Scoop: Trump admin blocks foreign access to Anthropic's most powerful AI
Article excerpt
The Trump administration has blocked foreign governments, companies, and individuals from accessing Anthropic's most advanced AI models, marking an escalation in how Washington treats cutting-edge AI as a national security asset. The move restricts access to Anthropic's most powerful systems, reflecting broader U.S. efforts to control AI technology development. The restriction applies globally and represents a significant shift in how the government manages access to frontier AI capabilities developed by private companies.
The Trump administration is blocking foreign governments, companies and individuals from accessing Anthropic's most advanced AI models.
Why it matters: The move marks an escalation in Washington's effort to treat cutting-edge AI systems as national security assets.
Anthropic now finds itself on a Pentagon blacklist deeming it too dangerous for the government's own use, and in a Commerce Department licensing regime deeming it too dangerous for foreign use.
Driving the news: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday sent a letter to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei saying that the Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models would be subject to export controls to any location outside of the U.S. and to all foreign persons within the country.
An administration official told Axios the Commerce Department decided to take the action after another company claimed it was able to jailbreak Mythos, alarming the administration about possible national security risks.
The administration tried to get Anthropic to pause releasing the latest models but was unsuccessful, the official said, prompting the export control letter.
The model needs to remain locked down until the U.S. government's national security apparatus is hardened, the official said, adding that could happen in the next few weeks.
Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Zoom in: Per Commerce's letter, a license will be required for the export, re-export or domestic transfer of Anthropic's models.
Furthermore, Anthropic will have to submit an additional application for individually validated licenses.
Failure to comply would result in financial and civil penalties.
Context: The Trump administration earlier this month released an executive order to test the most advanced AI models before they are deployed.
Anthropic has a partnership with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation at Commerce for pre-deployment testing.
Yes, but: The executive order is voluntary and explicitly avoids a licensing regime, something White House chief AI adviser David Sacks was able to secure to avoid what he considers the "regulatory capture" of the biggest labs.
An administration official said that Trump "does not want to hurt the industry and wants innovation to continue."
The bottom line: Anthropic's running fight with the government just got more complicated.