Anthropic disables AI models after US government export control order
Article excerpt
Anthropic has taken its Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models offline following a U.S. Government directive restricting access to foreign nationals. The Commerce Department cited national security concerns, specifically flagging a vulnerability or "jailbreak" technique that could bypass the models' safety guardrails. The move marks a rare instance of direct government intervention forcing an AI company to suspend commercial products. Anthropic, which built its reputation on safety-conscious AI development, complied with the order but disclosed few details about implementation or which countries face restrictions. The suspension reflects escalating U.S. Export controls on advanced artificial intelligence alongside semiconductors and other dual-use technologies, as Washington moves to prevent cutting-edge capabilities from reaching foreign competitors. It remains unclear whether other AI companies face similar pressure or if this establishes a precedent for future government enforcement in the sector.
Anthropic completely shut off access to its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models Friday night, just days after they were launched.
The move comes after Anthropic's receipt of a US Commerce Department directive Friday evening, subjecting the new models to export controls restricting their use anywhere outside the United States. In a message posted Friday night, Anthropic said the only way for it to ensure compliance with that government order in the immediate term "is that we must abruptly disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all our customers." Access to other Anthropic models is not affected.
An Axios report cited an administration official saying that the administration is concerned by reports of a jailbreak that reportedly gets around broad classifier-based safeguards meant to block Fable 5 prompts regarding cybersecurity, chemistry, and biology. The administration reportedly requested a pause in the release of these models to gain time for the "national security apparatus" to be "hardened" against this kind of threat. That hardening could be complete "in the next few weeks," Axios' source suggested.
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