The Trump administration has reversed course on strict export controls for Anthropic’s most advanced AI models, ending an 18‑day disruption that exposed deep tensions over how far Washington should go in policing frontier systems.
How the shutdown began
On June 12, the U.S. government imposed export controls on Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5, forcing Anthropic to cut off access to foreign nationals, including its own staff.1 Because the order took effect immediately and Anthropic had no way to verify users’ nationality in real time, the company "suspended access to both models for all users."1
Anthropic later said it had to "abruptly disable" access to what it called its "most powerful publicly available AI model" after the Trump administration’s export control order.2 The dispute came amid broader friction: in March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had labeled Anthropic a supply chain risk, prompting the company to sue the administration; that lawsuit is still pending.2
Weeks of negotiations
Behind the scenes, Anthropic executives traveled to Washington to argue that the order was based on a misunderstanding of a possible Fable 5 "jailbreak" and to negotiate new safeguards with the White House.2 Meanwhile, Mythos 5, already restricted to select organizations because of its powerful hacking capabilities, remained under tight control as officials weighed national security risks.3
Restrictions lifted and models return
After weeks of talks, the Commerce Department lifted the license requirement that had effectively cut off public access to the Mythos and Fable models.3 Anthropic announced it had "received notice that the Department of Commerce has lifted export controls" on Fable 5 and Mythos 5 and would "begin restoring access tomorrow."2
The Axios account notes that export controls on Claude Fable 5 were lifted Tuesday evening, with access returning to customers Wednesday, marking the end of negotiations.4 TechCrunch similarly reported that Anthropic would begin restoring access on July 1, after agreeing to proactively detect and address security risks and work with the government on standards for current and future models.3
Competing priorities: security, control and competition
From the government’s perspective, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said his office had "worked closely with Anthropic to analyze and approve Fable 5" to ensure alignment across the U.S. government and "strengthen America's leadership in AI."4 The administration had already allowed Mythos 5 to be released only to a small group of government‑approved customers, mirroring OpenAI’s GPT‑5.6 rollout under similar constraints.34
Anthropic’s own account stresses that the company was already applying many of the safeguards the government ultimately demanded, and that the June 12 order forced it into a blanket shutdown because it could not comply in a more targeted way.13 The company now highlights a new safeguard that blocks the jailbreak that worried officials 93% of the time; in the remaining 7%, outputs are limited to previously known or patched vulnerabilities, though the system may also flag more benign requests.4
Cybersecurity experts cited in TechCrunch questioned whether the original export controls were truly about security, suggesting they functioned partly as leverage over a firm whose leaders had publicly criticized how both the government and political actors might use AI.3 At the same time, rising competition from Asian firms developing Mythos‑class systems put pressure on Washington to avoid hobbling a leading U.S. player.3
What comes next
The episode leaves the future of AI oversight unsettled. Axios notes that the government’s role in "regulating and evaluating frontier AI models before release is still up in the air" and has produced an "ad hoc regulatory environment" in which powerful systems like Fable 5, Mythos 5, and GPT‑5.6 are funneled first to vetted customers under bespoke agreements.4 For Anthropic, the resolution comes as it pursues an IPO, underscoring how closely the company’s commercial trajectory is now intertwined with U.S. national security policy.2
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