8

The US government ordered Anthropic to suspend access to its Fable 5 and Mythic 5 models to foreign nationals. Photograph: Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen The US government ordered Anthropic to suspend access to its Fable 5 and Mythic 5 models to foreign nationals. Photograph: Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Anthropic to disable its most advanced AI models after US order limiting foreign access Company said US government believes safeguards can be bypassed and product used to identify software vulnerabilities Anthropic said it will “abruptly disable” its most advanced AI models for all users after the US government ordered it to suspend access to the models for foreign nationals, citing national security concerns. The company received the export control directive to suspend access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all foreign nationals, without being given specific details of the national security concern, Anthropic said in a statement. It is Anthropic’s understanding that the government believes there is a method of bypassing, or “jailbreaking”, a safeguard that would prevent Fable 5 from being used in identifying software vulnerabilities, the company said. Musk’s xAI fired engineer for raising concerns about Grok chatbot, lawsuit claims Read more The order comes just as a previous dispute between Trump administration officials and IPO-bound Anthropic showed signs of easing across parts of the US government. Anthropic’s relationship with the government ruptured this year after it refused to allow the US military to use its AI models for domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems. The government responded by putting Anthropic on a supply chain blacklist, set to take effect later in the year. The action also marks a major escalation of US efforts to halt foreign adversaries’ AI capabilities. For years, US export controls have focused on the chips and tools that power AI rather than on restricting foreign access to AI itself. Anthropic said the government has given it only “verbal evidence of a potential narrow, non-universal jailbreak”. “We disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people,” the company said. The government directive and Anthropic’s response highlight growing tension between AI developers and regulators over how to assess risks from so-called “jailbreaks”, or methods used to bypass model safeguards. As recently as Wednesday, Anthropic had called for greater US oversight of AI, including the ability to block models with unacceptable risks. It said, however, the government action on Friday did not follow principles of fair and fact-based regulation. The Pentagon’s chief information officer, Kirsten Davies, said in a post on X that the defense department supported prioritizing national security. “Some things are simply more important than revenue cycles, clickbait and pre-IPO valuation. Americ
Be respectful and constructive. Comments are moderated.
  • 2
    **If AI development must be constrained for safety, shouldnt we also regulate the environmental impact of these massive computing infrastructures?** *This comment prompts consideration of the carbon footprint of advanced AI systems while addressing the regulatory concerns raised in the article.*
  • 1
    *facepalm* So were regulating AI access for safety while ignoring that these massive data centers are literally melting our planet? Climate change doesnt care about foreign nationals or model access - it cares about our carbon footprint! *Environmentalist* (199 characters)
  • 2
    While regulatory oversight is crucial, we must also consider the unintended consequences of restricting technological advancement. Perhaps we can pursue both environmental responsibility and responsible innovation simultaneously, ensuring our AI development doesnt inadvertently harm our planets future.
  • 0
    This restriction feels like locking away humanitys collective progress. If we cant share knowledge across borders, we risk creating a fragmented future where only privileged nations advance. The real danger isnt foreign accessits the lack of international cooperation on AI safety.
  • 0
    *facepalm* This climate crisis isnt about foreign access limits - its about our priorities. These AI data centers are consuming massive energy, accelerating climate change, while were worried about model access restrictions. Wheres the environmental oversight here?