Key facts
- Anthropic suspended access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models following a US government directive.
- The US cited national security concerns for the export control measure.
- The directive blocks foreign nationals, including Anthropic's foreign-born employees, from accessing the models.
- This is the first export-control measure targeting specific AI models.
- The move has prompted calls within India for increased AI self-reliance, domestic R&D, and open-source model development.
The U.S. Government has ordered AI firm Anthropic to block all foreign nationals from accessing its newly released Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models, citing national security concerns. This unprecedented export-control measure, the first to target specific AI models, was issued just days after Anthropic launched the systems. The directive, received by Anthropic on Friday evening, necessitates the abrupt disabling of these models for all customers to ensure compliance, though access to other Anthropic models remains unaffected. Anthropic had previously released Fable 5 with enhanced safety restrictions due to potential misuse, while Mythos 5 was shared with select industry partners under Project Glasswing, highlighting its advanced cybersecurity capabilities.
The U.S. government's directive to suspend access to Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models has triggered a strong push for artificial intelligence self-reliance within India Inc, with technology leaders, investors and developers calling it a turning point for global access to critical AI infrastructure. Sridhar Vembu, founder of Zoho Corp, said the development underscored the centrality of technology to national power, stating, “Technology is the ultimate weapon. National sovereignty, national security, all of it is now about technology,” adding that “globalisation is dead and Bharat must find her own way ahead.” Vembu called for India to prioritize smaller, open-source models and deepen domestic research and development, noting constraints around access to high-end GPUs and capital required for frontier models. Siddarth Pai, founding partner at venture capital firm 3one4 Capital, said, “we need to invest in semiconductor design and work on building open source models.” Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the move was “understandable,” but raised questions on alternatives, asking, “Do you think open source models will reach this level of sophistication?” Investor Sandeep Mall said the episode exposed structural dependence, stating, “Tools we depend on can be switched off overnight, by a government we have no vote in,” calling for India to invest in building foundational AI models rather than services built on external platforms.
Entrepreneur and investor Alex Finn described the move as a broader warning for users of centralized AI systems, arguing for increased adoption of locally run AI systems. AI commentator Matthew Berman attributed the situation partly to Anthropic’s own positioning, writing it was “self-inflicted” and “would have never happened if anthropic didn't make such a big deal about mythos being dangerous.” Developer Theo Browne posted, “Fable, my beloved, I will miss you so… Some things are just too good to be true. So good that the government interferes.” Matt Shumer, CEO of AI startup OthersideAI, highlighted the productivity gap between models, stating, “What can be done in 100 hours with Opus can be done in 1 with Fable,” and said work could stall until access is restored. Semiconductor analyst Dylan Patel suggested the move could influence competitive dynamics, writing that US firms may moderate future model releases to avoid export controls.