Trump Relents: US Eases Restrictions on Anthropic's Advanced AI Model
The artificial intelligence company Anthropic has reopened access to its most advanced AI model, Claude Mythos 5. This follows the US government relaxing restrictions that were previously imposed for national security reasons.
In an announcement on Friday (26/6), Anthropic stated that the US government is now permitting companies to distribute Claude Mythos 5 to a number of trusted organisations within the US. This decision reverses part of the policy implemented approximately two weeks ago, which had halted access to the model.
Sources familiar with the latest policy indicate that more than 100 companies and institutions will now gain access to Mythos 5, including many members of the Fortune 500.
The administration of President Donald Trump had implemented strict regulations regarding the launch of advanced AI models from both Anthropic and OpenAI. These measures were triggered by concerns that high-capability AI technology could be misused by military and intelligence agencies in China, Russia, and other nations of concern to the US government.
Earlier on the same day, OpenAI also announced it was delaying the full launch of GPT-5.6 at the request of the US government. The model is currently only accessible to a small group of verified partners, with data being shared with government authorities.
Anthropic had previously deactivated its most advanced AI models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, for all users after the US government issued export control orders on 12 June.
“Today, the government informed us that Mythos 5, our strongest cybersecurity model, can once again be used by a number of organisations in the US that operate and protect critical infrastructure,” Anthropic stated, as reported by Reuters.
“We have quickly restored access for these organisations, and we continue to work with the government to expand access to Mythos 5 and to restore Fable 5 for general use,” the company added.
Easing of Restrictions
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in a letter to Anthropic, noted that significant progress has been made in the company’s cooperation with the government to address risks associated with ‘Covered Models’.
However, it remains unclear what additional safeguards have been implemented. Anthropic previously revealed that the government believed there were methods to bypass or ‘jailbreak’ the security systems intended to prevent Fable 5 from being used to identify software vulnerabilities.
Lutnick also stated that export licences are no longer required for Mythos 5 if used by trusted companies and their employees, including non-US citizens, provided they are not Anthropic employees. However, licensing restrictions remain in place for companies not included on the government-approved list.
Reuters sources indicate that most of the approved companies are members of Anthropic’s ‘Project Glasswing’, which comprises approximately 100 prominent technology companies and institutions.
The US government is also reportedly moving towards granting permission for Anthropic to release Fable 5 in the near future, although a precise schedule has not yet been determined.
Fable 5 and Mythos 5 utilise the same underlying AI model. The difference lies in the fact that Fable 5 is designed for wide public availability, whereas certain security layers on Mythos have been relaxed for specific requirements.
Nevertheless, the relationship between Anthropic and the US government had previously become strained. The company previously refused to allow the US military to use its AI models for domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons systems. Following this, the government placed Anthropic on a national security blacklist.
Restrictions on Anthropic and OpenAI were implemented after President Trump signed an executive order establishing a voluntary framework. These rules allow AI developers to submit ‘covered frontier models’ to the US government up to 30 days before the models are released to trusted partners.