Anthropic’s most powerful AI model barely lasted three days before the US government pulled the plug. The Trump administration directed the company to suspend access to Mythos 5 and its companion model Claude Fable 5 for all foreign nationals on June 12, citing national security concerns. That was just days after Mythos 5 first went live on June 9-10 as part of a cybersecurity-focused initiative called Project Glasswing.
Rather than try to selectively restrict access, Anthropic took the nuclear option: it disabled both models entirely on June 12 to comply with the new export controls. The move effectively shut down access for everyone, not just the foreign nationals targeted by the Commerce Department’s directive.
A two-week standoff with high stakes
What followed was roughly two weeks of intense negotiations between Anthropic executives and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The export controls didn’t just apply to overseas users. They required licenses for foreign nationals working inside the US to access the models. In English: if your cybersecurity team includes engineers on work visas, they couldn’t touch Mythos 5 without government approval.
High-level correspondence between Lutnick and Anthropic leadership proved instrumental in breaking the impasse. Anthropic introduced additional safeguards, the specifics of which haven’t been fully detailed, and the Commerce Department agreed to lift the restrictions around June 26-30.
