The Trump administration has moved to restrict foreign access to some of the most advanced artificial intelligence technology developed in the United States, according to a report published Friday.
Axios reported that the administration is restricting foreign governments, companies, and individuals from accessing Anthropic’s most powerful AI models, known as Mythos 5 and Fable 5. According to the report, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sent a letter on Friday to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei informing him that the two models will be subject to export controls.
The administration reportedly asked Anthropic to delay releasing the models, but was unsuccessful. The restrictions would apply to any location outside the United States as well as to foreign nationals within the country. Under the reported restrictions, Anthropic would be required to obtain licenses for the export, re-export, or domestic transfer of the affected AI models.
Axios reported that the controls specifically target Anthropic’s most advanced systems, which are considered among the leading frontier AI models currently available. An administration official told Axios that the Commerce Department acted after another company reportedly demonstrated a successful jailbreak of Mythos, raising national security concerns. The restrictions reflect broader concerns that advanced AI systems could be exploited by foreign adversaries for military, economic, or technological gain.
In a statement, Anthropic confirmed the export-control directive and said it is removing access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 while it complies with the order. The company said it disagrees with the government’s assessment, contending that the reported jailbreak exposed only limited vulnerabilities and did not justify recalling a commercially deployed model.
“We are complying with the government’s legal directive and are removing access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all users,” Anthropic said. “However, we disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people. If this standard was applied across the industry, we believe it would essentially halt all new model deployments for all frontier model providers.”
Anthropic said it spent thousands of hours testing Fable 5’s safeguards with U.S. and U.K. government partners, third-party organizations, and internal teams before the model’s release. The company added that the testing found no universal jailbreak capable of broadly bypassing the model’s protections and argued that the disclosed vulnerabilities were limited, benign, or not unique to Mythos 5.
The restrictions come as Washington continues to tighten export controls on sensitive technologies, including advanced semiconductors and AI-related hardware, amid growing competition with China and other foreign powers.
Anthropic launched Mythos 5 and Fable 5 on June 9. The models are among the company’s most advanced artificial intelligence systems, designed for complex tasks including software engineering, scientific research, cybersecurity, and advanced reasoning. Anthropic describes Mythos 5 as having “the strongest cybersecurity capabilities of any model in the world,” while Fable 5 serves as a safeguarded version for broader use.
The export restrictions follow growing concerns about the capabilities of advanced AI systems. In April, it was reported that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell convened an emergency meeting with Wall Street executives to discuss potential cybersecurity risks associated with Anthropic’s Mythos AI model.
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to Breitbart News’s request for comment.