The US Commerce Department has lifted export restrictions on Anthropic's advanced AI models Fable and Mythos, less than three weeks after imposing controls over security concerns that the powerful models could be abused. Customer access has been restored.
The US government has authorized Anthropic to release its powerful Claude Mythos 5 AI model to more than 100 select US companies, government agencies, and cybersecurity firms, reversing an export block imposed earlier this month due to national security concerns. OpenAI is also staggering its latest model release following a similar government request.
CEOs from Anthropic, OpenAI, and other leading AI companies joined G7 leaders in France on June 17, 2026, to discuss AI governance and coordination, as tensions escalated over a U.S. government order forcing Anthropic to suspend access to its latest AI models citing national security concerns.
Some firms selected by Anthropic to test its Mythos AI model before wider release have preserved access to preview versions, despite a June 12 US government export control directive that forced the company to shut down its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models within 90 minutes. The order, which involved concerns about SK Telecom's alleged ties to China, has sparked debate about the legality and scope of the Trump administration's AI export restrictions.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and other tech leaders voiced security concerns to Trump administration officials about Anthropic's advanced AI models this week, prompting the government's decision to halt foreign access to Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5.
The US government issued an export control directive citing national security concerns to suspend foreign national access to Anthropic's most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5. In response, Anthropic disabled the models for all users, including those in the US.
Microsoft has limited internal employee access to Anthropic's newly released Claude Fable AI model, citing concerns about data retention policies. The restriction comes shortly after Anthropic launched Claude Fable, described as its first Mythos-class AI model.
Anthropic has launched Claude Fable 5, a Mythos-class AI model made available to the general public two months after the company initially rolled out Mythos to a limited number of users. The public version includes safety guardrails blocking responses in high-risk areas like cybersecurity and biology.
Anthropic is scaling access to its Mythos AI model to 150 organizations in more than 15 countries, targeting critical infrastructure sectors including power, water, healthcare, and communications where cyberattacks could affect 100 million people. The expansion is part of Project Glasswing, the company's security vulnerability program.
Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 on Thursday, upgrading its flagship model with stronger coding and agentic capabilities at existing pricing levels. The company also announced its more powerful Mythos model will roll out to customers in the coming weeks.
OpenAI announced Thursday it is rolling out GPT-5.5-Cyber (codenamed 'Spud') to vetted cybersecurity professionals for finding vulnerabilities and analyzing malware. Security testing shows the model can autonomously execute sophisticated cyberattacks, completing a 32-step corporate network simulation and solving a 12-hour security puzzle in 10 minutes, matching capabilities of Anthropic's Mythos released a month earlier.
The White House has authorized federal agencies to access Anthropic's controversial Mythos AI model for cybersecurity applications, overriding Pentagon security concerns about the model's advanced exploit capabilities.
Venture capitalists are offering to invest in Anthropic at valuations up to $800 billion, following the company's release of the Mythos model and Project Glasswing cybersecurity demonstration. The valuation represents a significant increase from previous rounds.