tech
I was using Anthropic's Fable when it disappeared mid-project. It taught me a lesson about AI and business.
A UK founder was mid project with Anthropic's Fable 5 model when a US government order halted foreign access. Luckily, he had a backup plan.
TL;DR
- A UK founder's web design and SaaS ventures were impacted when US government orders halted foreign access to Anthropic's Fable AI model.
- The founder, Sean McDonnell, was using Fable for a product review when access was abruptly cut off.
- Previous issues with AI tools like Claude's token limits prepared McDonnell to have a backup plan in place.
- This backup plan involved creating a guide for other AI models, allowing tasks to be transferred to Codex and Claude 4.8 after Fable became unavailable.
- While the disruption was not catastrophic due to preparedness, it ruined the team's momentum and highlighted the risks of over-reliance on a single AI tool.
- The incident reinforces the importance of having a Plan B, documenting processes externally, and understanding the strengths of different AI models.