Trump Orders AI Shutdown: Anthropic Blocks Top Models Abroad

Anthropic, a leading AI company, announced Friday it has suspended public access to its most advanced artificial intelligence models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. The move follows a last-minute export control directive from the Trump administration, which requires the company to block access to these systems for foreign nationals, both inside and outside the United States. The company stated the order arrived Friday afternoon, leaving it with no choice but to cut off all customers. Anthropic apologized to paying subscribers for the disruption. The company also said the U.S. government did not provide specific reasons why the new AI services pose a national security threat. “We believe the government should have the ability to block unsafe developments as part of a transparent, fair, and fact-based process,” Anthropic said in a statement. “This action does not adhere to those principles.” The suspension comes just days after Anthropic launched Fable 5 for subscribers of its Claude service. The company had promoted it as its most advanced model, outperforming its previous Opus series in a range of skill tests. Fable 5 was built on the controversial Mythos model. In April, Anthropic warned that Mythos had capabilities that could threaten the security of advanced systems in sensitive sectors, including finance. Anthropic had previously shared Mythos with the U.S. government and select companies through its Project Glasswing cybersecurity initiative. The company said it allowed these groups to test for vulnerabilities before the public release of Fable 5, which included safeguards to prevent misuse. Despite those safeguards, the government’s directive led to the full shutdown.