US lifts export restrictions on Anthropic's Mythos and Fable

The U.S. government has lifted a requirement that Anthropic obtain a license before exporting its Mythos and Fable models abroad. The AI lab announced it will begin restoring access to the models on Wednesday, July 1. The restriction, which was introduced on June 12 when the U.S. government added the products to its list of export-restricted technologies, had effectively cut off public access to the models because complying with the rule at scale proved impractical. Prior to the export ban, Mythos was originally made available to a select group of organizations in April, while Fable was released to the public in June.

The decision follows weeks of negotiations with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. According to Lutnick, Anthropic “has agreed to proactively detect and address security risks associated with the models; to work diligently with the U.S. government on protocols and standards and releases for Mythos, Fable and future models; and to inform the US government of any malicious activity.” Last week, Lutnick cleared Mythos to be released to select customers approved by the White House. This approach mirrored the release of OpenAI’s latest models, which were also made available to a group of organizations approved by the Trump team rather than the general public.

The policy shift comes amid growing competitive pressure. Asian AI companies are beginning to release their own AI models approaching Mythos-level capabilities, including models named Fugu and Tulongfeng. This progress has pressured the U.S. government to ease its restrictions on Anthropic to ensure American AI can compete globally.

Despite the resolution, cybersecurity experts remain skeptical of the original restrictions. To these experts, the ban looked less like a security fix and more like leverage, a way for the Trump administration to punish Anthropic for its executives’ public criticism. Analysts have also pointed to the Trump administration’s erratic approach to AI policymaking, which has left companies across the industry with little clarity about future model releases. This includes criticism of an executive order issued in June that signaled a desire to review models ahead of release. The order was criticized by analysts such as Dean W. Ball, who recently started a policy position at OpenAI.

Why it matters

The U.S. government eased restrictions on Anthropic to ensure American AI remains competitive against emerging Asian models like Fugu and Tulongfeng. This signals a shift in how the administration balances security concerns with global market dominance.