US Government Directive Forces Global Shutdown of Fable 5 and Mythos 5 Over National Security Concerns
Highlights
- Anthropic has suspended Fable 5 and Mythos 5 globally.
- US export control directive cites national security concerns.
- Indian businesses and users are expected to be significantly affected.
- Anthropic disagrees with the government’s decision and seeks restoration.
- Access to other Anthropic AI models remains unaffected.
Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has suspended access to its advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for customers worldwide after receiving an export control directive from the US government citing national security concerns.
According to the company, the order requires the immediate suspension of access to both models for all foreign nationals, regardless of whether they are located inside or outside the United States. The restriction also applies to foreign-national employees working at Anthropic.
The company stated that compliance with the directive left it with no option but to disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 globally. However, access to its other AI models will continue without interruption.
The decision is expected to have a notable impact in India, which has emerged as Anthropic’s second-largest market. The company recently expanded its presence through partnerships with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys, enabling large-scale enterprise AI deployments across the country.
Sources also indicated that certain Indian government agencies and private organizations had recently received access to the Mythos model under a cybersecurity initiative known as Project Glasswing.
The US action comes amid growing scrutiny of advanced AI systems. Earlier this year, Nirmala Sitharaman urged banks and financial institutions to strengthen cybersecurity measures and coordinate closely with CERT-In to address emerging AI-related risks.
Anthropic revealed that it received the government directive on June 12 and believes the action was triggered by concerns that a method had been discovered to bypass the safeguards built into Fable 5. The company reviewed the reported technique and described it as a limited, non-universal jailbreak involving software vulnerability analysis.
Defending its technology, Anthropic argued that similar capabilities are available in other advanced AI systems, including those developed by OpenAI, and are commonly used by cybersecurity professionals for defensive purposes.
The company maintained that perfect protection against jailbreaks is currently impossible and said it relies on multiple layers of safeguards, including customer data retention policies designed to identify and mitigate security risks.
Apologizing for the disruption, Anthropic called the government’s action a misunderstanding and said it is actively working with authorities to restore access to the affected models as soon as possible.
