Trump admin allows Anthropic's Mythos 5 to be used by over 100 US companies, agencies

Two weeks into the ban that caused Anthropic to pull its powerful cybersecurity-oriented models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, from the market, the Trump administration is softening its stance. The administration is now allowing Anthropic to make Mythos 5 available to more than 100 specific U.S. government agencies and companies, including allowing the non-American employees at those organizations to access the model, both Semafor and Reuters report.

This list also includes Anthropic's own non-American employees, who were included in the original ban that forbade non-Americans from accessing the models. "I have determined that appropriate safeguards are in place to permit certain trusted partners to access the Claude Mythos 5 Model," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote to Anthropic's chief compute officer Tom Brown on Friday, according to the missive seen by Semafor. Apparently, the administration did not address the release of Fable 5 in this directive.

This is a version of Mythos 5 that was widely released a couple of days before the ban because it was said to have more protections. Both models were pulled after those guardrails were allegedly bypassed easily by security researchers. Anthropic did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

Anthropic on Friday publicly acknowledged the progress in a post on X, writing: "Since June 12, we've been working closely with the US government to restore access to Claude Mythos 5 and Fable 5. Today, the government notified us that Mythos 5, our strongest cybersecurity model, can be redeployed to a set of US organizations that operate and defend critical infrastructure. We're restoring access for these organizations quickly, and we're continuing to work with the government to expand access to Mythos 5 and make Fable 5 available for general use again." Why this matters: The Trump administration's decision to allow Mythos 5 to be used by over 100 US companies and agencies marks a significant shift in its approach to regulating powerful AI models.

This move could have far-reaching implications for the cybersecurity industry, as Mythos 5 is considered a highly effective tool for defending critical infrastructure. For developers and businesses, this means that they may soon have access to a cutting-edge AI model that can help them protect their systems from cyber threats. However, the ban on Fable 5 remains in place, raising questions about the administration's priorities and the potential risks associated with these models.

As the use of AI models like Mythos 5 becomes more widespread, it will be crucial to monitor their impact on the cybersecurity landscape and address any concerns that arise.