Legally or not, the U.S. government is controlling global access to the world’s most powerful AI

The U.S. Commerce Department issued an order in June requiring AI firm Anthropic to block foreign nationals from accessing its two most advanced models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5.

Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5 are the company's top-tier models, used for complex reasoning, coding, and agentic tasks. The order restricts access to these models to U.S. persons, effectively limiting their availability to foreign researchers, businesses, and governments. The legal basis for the order is unclear, with the article noting that the government is acting 'legally or not.'

The move underscores the tension between national security interests and the open development of AI. Observers worry about the precedent that such unilateral executive action could set. The order could accelerate the fragmentation of global AI development as other countries may respond with their own controls.