The US Department of Commerce issued a directive on June 12 ordering Anthropic to suspend access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models for all foreign nationals worldwide. It is the first time export controls have been applied to a commercially available AI model already in widespread use.
How the directive came together
The chain of events that led to the order moved remarkably fast. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy raised concerns about a potential jailbreak vulnerability in Fable 5, flagging what he characterized as a national security risk. Within 24 hours of those communications, the Commerce Department had issued its directive.
White House officials had reportedly urged Anthropic to address the issues voluntarily before the formal order came down. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has engaged in discussions with senior White House officials multiple times throughout 2026 on matters related to access restrictions and security designations, suggesting this confrontation had been building for some time.
Over 100 cybersecurity professionals have called on the administration to rescind the restrictions. Their argument is counterintuitive but worth understanding: cutting off allied nations from these tools doesn’t just inconvenience them, it actively weakens the collective security posture of the US and its partners while potentially strengthening adversaries who will develop or acquire similar capabilities regardless.
