anthropic is defying the US government’s order that restricts foreigners from using Claude Fable 5with the support of many cybersecurity professionals and export control experts.
The company met with White House officials in Washington this week to try to reverse or limit the measures announced Friday.
Following the order, Anthropic shut down Fable 5 entirely, citing the difficulty of filtering out non-US citizens in real time. The company is now working with the government to find a solution.
Background and why cybersecurity experts support Anthropic
Anthropic liberation Fable 5 as a consumer-facing version of its Mythos-class model architecture, with security barriers to block sensitive queries related to cybersecurity, biology, and chemistry.
The model was available for free to Pro, Max, and Enterprise users for a limited period ending June 22.
Concerns about potential jailbreak vulnerabilities emerged from Amazon’s cybersecurity research team.
Amazon’s CEO took the issue to the White House, prompting the US government to impose restrictions on foreign access to the model. In response, Anthropic took Fable 5 offline for all users.
This is not the first time Anthropic has faced tensions with the US government. In March, the Pentagon called Anthropic a supply chain risk and ordered federal agencies to stop using its models after the company refused to allow its products to be used for autonomous weapons or mass domestic surveillance.
A federal judge ruled that the Pentagon directive is unenforceable while Anthropic’s lawsuit against the designation is ongoing.
Dozens of cybersecurity leaders signed an open letter urging the US government to lift restrictions on Fable 5. The letter states that Anthropic “integrated multiple protections into the Fable model to prevent its use for cyber-offensive purposes.”
The signatories argue that the jailbreaking technique cited by White House officials applies equally to other publicly available models, meaning that restricting Fable 5 specifically does not address the core problem.
The letter warns that eliminating a model as capable as Fable in cybersecurity tasks “while US adversaries advance rapidly is dangerous.”
Export control experts have also questioned whether the US government has the legal authority to impose the restrictions in their current form. Their objections add a legal dimension to a dispute that now involves technical, security and regulatory issues.
The US government’s position on Fable 5 so far
The US government has not publicly explained the specific concerns behind the restrictions. Reuters reports that officials are seeking assurances from Anthropic that the model will not be used to harm US citizens.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick participated in the talks and is expected to continue talks with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei during G7 meetings in France. National cyber director Sean Cairncross also attended the meetings.
Anthropic’s previous review of the cited jailbreak found that it discovered a small number of minor vulnerabilities that are already known and could be discovered by other publicly available models without bypass techniques.
What this suspension means for users and why the case is important
Fable 5 and Mythos 5 are currently offline for all users while negotiations continue. Anthropic has not provided an estimated timeline for its return.
Pro, Max, and Enterprise users who activated Fable 5 during the free preview cannot access the service at this time. Other Claude models, such as the Opus 4.8, remain available and are not affected by these restrictions.
The dispute is becoming a key example of how aggressively governments could regulate cutting-edge artificial intelligence systems. The result could influence how AI companies handle export controls, security reviews and government access requests in the future.
It can also determine whether national security concerns lead to product-level restrictions or broader industry-wide regulations.
Anthropic has not provided a timeline for when Fable 5 might become available again. The upcoming G7 meetings in France could offer the next public updates on the negotiations.
