US lifts export controls on powerful AI models, Anthropic to restore access globally
Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company, announced on Tuesday that it will soon restore global access to its most advanced AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, after the United States government lifted restrictions on their release. The company said it received notice from the Department of Commerce that export controls on these models have been removed.
Earlier this month, on June 12, U.S. authorities blocked access to the models on national security grounds, citing vulnerabilities in the safeguards meant to prevent misuse. The government abruptly ordered Anthropic to cut off access after discovering these weaknesses. Just four days before the lifting, the company had received authorization to allow a small group of American cybersecurity firms to access Mythos 5.
Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, in a June 26 letter to Anthropic, stated that the company 'has worked with the U.S. government to address risks associated with the Covered Models,' as reported by Politico. The decision to lift restrictions followed what officials described as satisfactory risk mitigation efforts by Anthropic.
Anthropic is not the only AI company subject to government oversight. OpenAI, a rival lab, also complied with Washington's requests to restrict the release of its powerful model, GPT-5.6, to a limited set of approved partners. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman commented on Friday that the process 'isn't quite the process that we think is optimal,' but did not elaborate further.
In a speech at the AWS summit in Washington, CIA Director John Ratcliffe compared the capabilities of the most advanced AI models to nuclear weapons, describing them as 'digital nuclear weapons.' He said that in conversations with national security and economic security advisors, the impact of frontier AI models is a significant concern, implicitly defending the administration's cautious approach.
Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment on Tuesday. The company plans to begin restoring access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 starting Wednesday.
