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Trump drops restrictions on Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models
7:16 PM PDT · June 30, 2026
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The US has lifted a requirement that Anthropic obtain a license before exporting its Mythos and Fable models abroad, a requirement that effectively cut off public access to what are widely considered the most advanced AI models released to date.
The AI lab said it would begin restoring access to the models on Wednesday, July 1.
On June 12, the US government had added the products to its list of export-restricted technologies, meaning they could no longer be made available to foreign nationals without special approval. Complying with that rule proved impractical at scale, forcing Anthropic to end public access to the models altogether.
Now, after weeks of talks, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said 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.”
Anthropic had already publicly pledged to do much of this voluntarily, months before the export rule existed. That’s part of why cybersecurity experts were skeptical of the restrictions in the first place. To them, 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 of how the government, and the president’s political opponents, might use the technology.
Mythos was originally made available to a select group of organizations beginning in April to allay concerns about its ability to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in software, while a version called Fable was released to the public in June with additional security guardrails.
However, with Asian AI companies beginning to release their own AI models approaching Mythos-level capabilities — among them Fugu and Tulonfeng — the US government was under pressure to ease its restrictions on Anthropic to ensure that American AI could compete globally.
Last week, Lutnick cleared Mythos to be released to select customers approved by the White House. OpenAI’s latest models were also released to a group of organizations approved by the Trump team, instead of the public.
The Trump administration’s erratic approach to AI policymaking has left companies across the industry with little clarity about what will govern future model releases. An executive order issued in June that signaled a desire to review models ahead of release was criticized by influential analysts like Dean W. Ball, who recently started a policy position at OpenAI.
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Tim Fernholz
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Anthropic and Gov. Newsom forge deal allowing California government to use Claude at half price
11:10 AM PDT · June 29, 2026
Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Anthropic have made a deal that allows California government agencies to use Claude at a discounted price. This agreement comes at a time when businesses are struggling to manage the hefty costs of enterprise subscriptions to AI tools.
Under the deal, all state agencies and local governments will have access to Claude, Anthropic’s AI chatbot, as well as training and support from Anthropic. A press release from the Governor’s office says that Claude will help state employees draft documents and analyze information.
“AI should not replace the human work of government; it should help our workers move faster, solve problems more effectively, and deliver better results for Californians,” Governor Newsom said in a statement.
This deal follows Newsom’s March executive order that intends to accelerate the use of AI “to make government more efficient” while also maintaining stronger safety standards.
“While others in Washington are designing policy and creating contracts in the shadow of misuse, we’re focused on doing this the right way,” Newsom said at the time.
As Anthropic forges a closer relationship with the state of California, the federal government has made an enemy out of the OpenAI rival. Earlier this year, Anthropic and the U.S. Department of Defense clashed over a contract that would give the government agency permission to deploy Claude for any lawful use. Anthropic sought to explicitly carve out protections that prevent the government from using its technology to surveil Americans or deploy autonomous weapons without human oversight. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth refused, and the agency signed a deal with OpenAI instead. The government went as far as to declare Anthropic a “ supply-chain risk,” preventing the company from working with any other Pentagon contractors.
While the state’s path clearly diverges from the actions of the federal government, California’s CIO and Department of Technology director Chris Given told POLITICO that the supply-chain risk designation “just didn’t come up” while negotiating this Anthropic contract.
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AI, Anthropic, california, Gavin Newsom, Government & Policy
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