The Trump administration has restricted the use of Anthropic's latest artificial intelligence (AI) models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, by foreign nationals, following a warning from Amazon, a key investor in Anthropic.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), multiple sources reported on June 13 that Amazon CEO Andy Jassy informed U.S. government officials that his company's researchers discovered the potential for Anthropic's Fable 5 model to be exploited in cyberattacks. This prompted the government to issue blocking guidelines for the model.
Fable 5 was designed to prevent commands that could be misused in cybersecurity or bioweapons contexts. However, Amazon's researchers reportedly found ways to bypass these safeguards by inputting specific prompts.
After verifying Amazon's claims, U.S. government security personnel concluded that the most direct way to mitigate the risk was to prevent foreign governments, companies, and individuals from accessing the tool. A senior White House official stated that President Trump was the final authority who approved this action.
Since 2023, Amazon has invested a total of $13 billion (approximately 20 trillion won) in Anthropic and has committed to an additional $20 billion investment linked to Anthropic achieving commercial milestones. However, this year, Amazon has also pledged up to $50 billion (about 75 trillion won) to OpenAI, indicating a broader interest in AI technologies.
Amazon stated, "As a leading cloud provider supporting numerous public and private sector clients, it is not uncommon for the government to seek our advice on potential security risks," but added that it does not share specific details of such discussions.
The WSJ noted that ongoing litigation between Anthropic and the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense, may have influenced this decision. Adam Thierer, a senior researcher at the R Street Institute, remarked, "We are witnessing an intensification of the politicization of AI in this country and a concentration of control over advanced computing."
Kate Curran, a deputy director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and a former official at the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, acknowledged security concerns but suggested that the White House's animosity toward Anthropic likely influenced the decision.
In contrast, a senior White House official clarified that the action was related to model safety and that the Department of Defense was not significantly involved. On June 12, the U.S. government announced a complete export control directive prohibiting all foreign nationals from accessing Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Anthropic has temporarily suspended access to these models for all users to comply with the directive.
Anthropic has stated that claims of being able to bypass Fable 5 are misunderstandings and expressed its commitment to restoring service.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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