Trump officials ordered Anthropic to pull AI models in 90 minutes
The Trump administration gave artificial intelligence company Anthropic a 90-minute ultimatum on Friday to withdraw its newly released Mythos and Fable models, citing an unspecified national security threat before the Commerce Department imposed federal licensing restrictions on the systems later that evening, Axios reported.
Sudden ultimatum
The Trump administration gave artificial intelligence company Anthropic a 90-minute window on Friday to remove its newly released Mythos and Fable models, abruptly reversing earlier approvals and citing an unspecified national security threat before imposing strict federal licensing controls on the systems later that day, Axios reported on Saturday. Government officials contacted the San Francisco-based firm at 1 pm ET (1700GMT) and ordered an immediate rollback of the systems, a source familiar with the matter told the news website.
Company seeks clarity
"We immediately sought to understand the specific nature of the threat so we could remediate it," the source said, noting that Anthropic had already completed pre-release testing with authorities and received explicit approval to deploy the Fable model prior to the sudden intervention.
Commerce Department action
By 5.30 pm ET (2230GMT), the US Commerce Department had transmitted a formal letter imposing controls on where the models could be operated and by whom, prompting Anthropic to begin withdrawing the systems from circulation, according to the report. The episode underscores the volatile regulatory environment facing AI developers in Washington, where national security designations can override prior clearance decisions without detailed explanation.
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