The US government has quietly started telling AI companies what they can and can’t do with their most powerful models. The catch: there’s no formal law or regulation backing any of it.
On June 13, 2026, the Commerce Department sent a letter to Anthropic requiring that access to the company’s latest AI models be licensed for foreign individuals, including the company’s own domestic employees who happen to be foreign nationals. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s name was on the directive. Anthropic’s response was swift and blunt: it suspended access to its newest models for all foreign nationals.
A licensing regime that doesn’t technically exist
The federal government hasn’t passed an AI licensing law. There’s no formal regulatory framework. No published guidelines that AI companies can read, interpret, and comply with.
What exists instead is something Leo Schwartz of The Information describes as a de facto licensing regime. The government is wielding national security authority to impose restrictions on a case-by-case basis, without the transparency or consistency that formal rulemaking would require.
