On June 12, 2026, Anthropic announced it has disabled access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 artificial intelligence models following a directive from the U.S. government citing national security concerns. The order, received at 5:21 p.m. ET, mandated that access be suspended for all foreign nationals, including Anthropic employees outside the U.S.
This abrupt action comes shortly after the models were introduced, which were considered state-of-the-art and included new safeguards for high-risk areas. Anthropic emphasized that this decision affects only these two models, while its other offerings remain available. The company expressed regret over the disruption and criticized the lack of transparency in the government's directive.
This incident follows previous conflicts with the U.S. government, including a designation by the Department of Defense labeling Anthropic as a supply chain risk, which has implications for its operations with military contractors. The ongoing litigation regarding its blacklisting adds to the uncertainty surrounding Anthropic's future in the AI market