Anthropic has suspended access to its advanced Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models following a directive from the Trump administration. The order, received late Friday, mandates an immediate halt to usage by foreign nationals, including Anthropic employees, citing national security concerns.
The company confirmed it must disable these specific models for all customers globally to ensure compliance, though access to other Anthropic tools remains unaffected. Authorities reportedly identified a potential method to jailbreak Fable 5, allowing users to bypass ethical guidelines. Anthropic characterized the vulnerability as relatively simple and noted that existing safeguards significantly mitigate cybersecurity risks.
While complying, Anthropic publicly disagreed with the rationale, arguing that a narrow technical flaw does not justify recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions. This incident marks another friction point between the firm and the White House. Earlier this year, President Trump ordered federal agencies to cease using Anthropic technology after CEO Dario Amodei objected to defense-related applications, subsequently labeling the company a supply chain risk.
International reactions highlight growing geopolitical tensions in tech. Jordan Bardella, President of France’s National Rally party, cited the ban as proof that AI is a critical sovereignty issue, urging faster support for European alternatives like Mistral AI.