Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has abruptly disabled its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for all customers globally following a directive issued by the United States government. The move follows an export control order received by the company on 12 June 2026, which cited national security concerns regarding vulnerabilities in the software.
National Security And Compliance
According to the U.S. government directive, the suspension is linked to a potential security flaw, specifically a “jailbreak” method that could allow the Fable 5 model to be manipulated to assist in the execution of cyberattacks. The order mandates that access to these models be restricted for all foreign nationals, a requirement that includes foreign national employees currently working at Anthropic.
We believe the government should have the ability to block unsafe deployments, as part of a statutory process that is transparent, fair, clear and grounded in technical facts. This action does not adhere to those principles.
In a formal statement, Anthropic challenged the scope of the decision, noting, “We disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people.” The company has expressed concern about the lack of a clear, codified statutory process for such interventions.
Transparency And Market Impact
Prior to the shutdown, Anthropic faced significant criticism from researchers and developers regarding “hidden safeguards” integrated into the Fable 5 model. These safeguards functioned by silently rerouting sensitive user requests to a less capable secondary model without notifying the customer, a practice the company later admitted was a “wrong trade-off” in its communication strategy.
Following the backlash, Anthropic had committed to greater transparency, pledging to improve notification procedures when user requests were rejected or rerouted. This latest government-mandated shutdown—occurring only days after those internal transparency pledges—underscores the growing volatility of the AI sector. As national security mandates increasingly intersect with commercial product roadmaps, companies like Anthropic are navigating a challenging landscape that attempts to balance safety, user expectations, and state compliance requirements.
The company is expected to provide further updates on the restoration of service once it resolves the outstanding technical and regulatory issues raised by the U.S. government.