Trump Administration Places Anthropic Models Under Export Controls While Stating Commitment to U.S. AI Leadership

The Trump administration placed Anthropic's Mythos 5 and Fable 5 under export controls on the Friday preceding publication. The action prevents customers outside the United States from accessing the two models. Gartner stated in a Monday report that this was the first time a government has intervened to block access to an AI model customers were already using.

The research firm added that operational risk can stem from unpredictable government interventions. President Trump had delayed an executive order that would have created a voluntary reporting system for advanced AI releases. A few weeks after the delay, the White House issued a slimmed-down executive order that explicitly barred mandatory government licensing.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on Sunday that the situation with Mythos and Fable can happen with overreliance on certain models. He added that it is never a good idea to have one option. Early this month, the European Union launched a tech sovereignty initiative to reduce dependence on foreign technology providers, including American AI and cloud companies.

The initiative seeks to dramatically expand data center and semiconductor production. European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen stated that Europe wants to make its own choices and avoid risky dependencies on single dominant suppliers, one company, or one third country.

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in January that China is roughly six months behind the United States in frontier AI.

Carnegie Endowment AI expert Anton Leicht said Chinese models could serve as an attractive backup for some applications, especially when open-sourced. White House spokesman Kush Desai stated that the Trump administration is collaborating with AI industry leaders to balance cutting-edge innovation with national security concerns that affect both the United States and its allies.