- US reversed its Mythos 5 ban, clearing access for over 100 trusted US firms.
- Sam Altman opposed government control over AI access, while FIRE criticized the lack of transparency.
- Trump issued a 100% tariff threat against nations that tax US tech firms with levies.
The US government has partially reversed its ban on Anthropic’s most powerful AI model while simultaneously threatening sweeping new tariffs on any country that taxes American technology companies, marking an unusually interventionist Friday for Washington on both AI and trade.
Mythos 5 Returns for Select US Organizations
Anthropic announced that the government has cleared its Claude Mythos 5 model for redeployment to more than 100 US companies and institutions, many of which are Fortune 500 firms. The clearance partially reverses a June 12 export control order that abruptly shut down access to both Mythos 5 and Fable 5 for all users worldwide.
“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,” Anthropic said. The company added that it is continuing to push for broader access and the return of Fable 5 for general use.
The original suspension stemmed from concerns that frontier AI models could be exploited by military or intelligence users in China, Russia, or other adversarial nations to accelerate sophisticated cyberattacks. Anthropic had also flagged that the government believed a method existed to bypass a safeguard preventing Fable 5 from being used to identify software vulnerabilities.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote to Anthropic, citing significant progress in addressing those risks, though specific safeguards adopted were not disclosed.
The selective nature of the access drew sharp criticism. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company was separately asked to delay the full public launch of GPT-5.6, said he had no objection to safety testing but added, “I just don’t like the idea of the government picking the customers.” Civil liberties group FIRE was more direct, warning that the approach concentrates power without transparency or a clear legal basis.
Trump’s 100% Tariff Threat
Separately, Trump raised the stakes on trade. He threatened a 100% tariff on all goods from any country that imposes a digital services tax on American companies, a warning aimed squarely at European nations considering such levies.
“Any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF,” Trump wrote, adding the measure would override existing trade agreements, including last year’s US-EU deal capping American tariffs at 15%.
France is the primary target. President Macron refused last week to scrap his country’s 3% digital services levy, which has been in place since 2019 and applies to large tech platforms earning significant revenue in France. French lawmakers had proposed doubling the rate to 6%.
The two stories share a common thread: Washington tightening its grip on who benefits from American technology, whether by restricting which firms can access frontier AI or by threatening economic punishment for countries that tax US tech giants.
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