The US government on June 26-27, 2026 authorized Anthropic to release its Claude Mythos 5 AI model to more than 100 trusted US companies and institutions, including Fortune 500 firms and government agencies [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]. This follows a June 12 export control order that had suspended access to Anthropic's Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models for foreign nationals over national security concerns related to potential misuse by foreign intelligence services [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10].
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a letter to Anthropic that "significant progress" was made on risk mitigation since the June 12 order. He stated, "Since the issuance of my June 12 letter, Anthropic has worked with the US government to address risks associated with the Covered Models. These efforts have yielded significant progress" [1]. A Commerce Department spokesperson added the government acted quickly "to ensure America remains the global leader in AI while safeguarding our security" [1].
Anthropic confirmed the government notified them they could redeploy Mythos 5 to a set of US organizations that operate and defend critical infrastructure. An Anthropic spokesperson said, "We are working to provision the approved set of providers and restore their access to Mythos 5 as quickly as possible. We are pleased to see this progress and continue to work with the government to expand access to Mythos 5 and make Fable 5 available for general use again" [2, 6].
Restrictions still apply to companies not on the approved list. Critics have voiced concerns about government transparency and authority over access to advanced AI models. John Coleman, legislative counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said, "No one knows how these companies are picked and why everyone else is excluded. This is putting too much power in the hands of the government. There's little transparency and it raises questions about the rule of law" [2]. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman similarly remarked, "Extensive safety testing is not a bad idea. I just don't like the idea of the government picking the customers" [2].
Anthropic has maintained a rocky relationship with the US government after refusing to allow its AI models’ use for military domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons, which led to a national security blacklist [1, 8]. The US also delayed full launch of OpenAI's GPT-5.6 model over similar national security concerns, allowing access only to vetted partners [2, 4, 10].
Access to Anthropic’s Fable 5 remains suspended with no clear timeline for its return. Anthropic continues to collaborate with the US government on expanding access to Mythos 5 and restoring availability of Fable 5 [1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12]. The selective release affects more than 100 approved companies and institutions [1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10].
