US asks Anthropic to block global access to top AI models: Why it matters

The administration of US President Donald Trump has barred foreigners from accessing the top AI models developed by Anthropic, citing national security concerns, underscoring the US government’s policy of export controls over advanced technology.

The United States’ measures come less than a week after Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, rolled out a new ‌artificial intelligence (AI) model named ⁠Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5.

“The US government, citing national security authorities, has issued an export control directive to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, whether inside or outside the United States, including foreign national Anthropic employees,” Anthropic said in a blog post on Friday.

The latest move has reignited the feud between Anthropic and the Trump administration. The San Francisco-based company is suing the administration after it was put on a supply chain blacklist for its refusal to allow the US military to use its AI models for domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons systems.

Will this new US order further rupture ties between the White House and the AI firm?

Anthropic said the US government gave the company an order citing national security concerns, but did not specify further details.

According to a June 14 article by US news outlet Semafor, the order was issued partly over suspicions that a China-linked group had accessed Anthopic’s new AI model.

China has made big strides in the AI in recent years, with Chinese AI firm DeepSeek releasing generative AI models DeepSeek-V3 and DeepSeek-R1 using a fraction of cost compared to its American counterparts. Beijing also monopolises rare earth supply chains, which are critical to the AI sector.