Scoop: Trump admin blocks foreign access to Anthropic's most powerful AI

The Trump administration is blocking foreign governments, companies and individuals from accessing Anthropic's most advanced AI models.

Why it matters: The move marks an escalation in Washington's effort to treat cutting-edge AI systems as national security assets.

• Anthropic now finds itself on a Pentagon blacklist deeming it too dangerous for the government's own use, and in a Commerce Department licensing regime deeming it too dangerous for foreign use.

Driving the news: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Friday sent a letter to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei saying that the Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models would be subject to export controls to any location outside of the U.S. and to all foreign persons within the country.

• An administration official told Axios the Commerce Department decided to take the action after another company claimed it was able to jailbreak Mythos, alarming the administration about possible national security risks.
• The administration tried to get Anthropic to pause releasing the latest models but was unsuccessful, the official said, prompting the export control letter.
• The model needs to remain locked down until the U.S. government's national security apparatus is hardened, the official said, adding that could happen in the next few weeks.
• Anthropic did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zoom in: Per Commerce's letter, a license will be required for the export, re-export or domestic transfer of Anthropic's models.

• Furthermore, Anthropic will have to submit an additional application for individually validated licenses.
• Failure to comply would result in financial and civil penalties.

Context: The Trump administration earlier this month released an executive order to test the most advanced AI models before they are deployed.

• Anthropic has a partnership with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation at Commerce for pre-deployment testing.

Yes, but: The executive order is voluntary and explicitly avoids a licensing regime — something White House chief AI adviser David Sacks was able to secure to avoid what he considers the "regulatory capture" of the biggest labs.

• An administration official said that Trump "does not want to hurt the industry and wants innovation to continue."

The bottom line: Anthropic's running fight with the government just got more complicated.