Anthropic restricts top AI models for foreigners after US national security order

AI firm Anthropic has cut off access to its most advanced artificial intelligence models, Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5, for all foreign nationals worldwide. This drastic measure follows a directive from the United States government, which cited national security concerns as the reason for the ban.

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Our understanding is that the [US] government believes it has become aware of a method of bypassing, or 'jailbreaking' Fable.

The decision marks a significant escalation in tensions between Anthropic and the Trump administration, particularly after negotiations earlier this year regarding the potential use of Anthropic's AI technology by the U.S. military and intelligence agencies failed. This move could also pose a substantial setback for Anthropic's plans to go public later this year.

Anthropic confirmed the directive in a statement, specifying that the ban applies to foreigners both inside and outside the U.S., including its own foreign national employees. While the company stated it had blocked access for all customers temporarily to ensure compliance, it also expressed disagreement with the U.S. government's findings. Anthropic's internal tests reportedly found only minor vulnerabilities, and the company believes the government's assessment is overly cautious.

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should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people.

The company warned that applying such a rule broadly across AI platforms could effectively halt the deployment of new models for all leading AI developers. This action follows a recent executive order by President Trump requiring federal vetting of advanced AI systems for national security risks before their public release, shifting U.S. export controls towards AI software rather than just hardware.

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we believe it would essentially halt all new model deployments for all frontier model providers.