TOI correspondent from WashingtonIn a move that could redefine the global AI landscape, the Trump administration on Friday abruptly ordered AI company Anthropic to suspend access to its latest frontier models — Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — for all foreign citizens, regardless of where they are located, including non-U.S. employees working in the United States.
The directive, issued under US export control rules by authorities citing national security concerns, effectively forced Anthropic to withdraw the models for everyone overnight. The company, which like most technology companies employs many foreign nationals including Indians, said it could not reliably distinguish between American and foreign users quickly enough to comply with the order.“The net effect of this is that we must suddenly disable Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all of our customers to ensure compliance,” Anthropic said, while insisting that it believed the government’s action stemmed from a “misunderstanding” and expressed hope that access would be restored.The incident represents a major escalation in Washington’s efforts to address cutting-edge AI capabilities such as advanced semiconductors — technologies whose distribution is controlled because of their potential military value.At the heart of the controversy is Mythos 5, a robust model focused on cybersecurity that Anthropic had previously restricted to a select group of trusted organizations, including some in India, through an initiative known as Project Glasswing.
The model is designed to identify software vulnerabilities at a scale and speed beyond that of most human researchers, which could help governments and companies defend themselves against cyberattacks.
But the same capability that can patch vulnerabilities can also help identify ways to exploit them.India’s inclusion in Project Glasswing, announced just two weeks ago, was a gesture of extraordinary significance, given that New Delhi is not an official ally of the United States in the treaty.
It was the only major non-aligned power included in a group of 15 countries including Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada and South Korea. The decision was widely interpreted as an acknowledgment of India’s vast pool of programming talent and the growing strategic importance in the AI race.This access now appears uncertain, reminding New Delhi of the dangers of relying on foreign-controlled AI infrastructure, and intensifying calls for “sovereign AI.”
In a social media post, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu described the development as proof that “technology is the ultimate weapon” and argued that “globalization is dead.” He urged Indian organizations to adopt smaller Indian and Chinese open source models where appropriate while deepening local research efforts.On the other hand, the US government’s order also has an ironic twist: it affects some of the people who help build these systems.
Anthropic employs a large number of Indian-origin engineers and researchers, including CTO Rahul Patel, formerly CTO of Stripe. The company is also maintaining its operations in Bengaluru as part of its broader international expansion. Under the Guidance’s interpretation of the term “foreign nationals,” non-U.S. citizens within Anthropology itself would likely lose access to the models they helped develop.Anthropic has strongly opposed the government’s action, arguing that the alleged security concerns surrounding the Mythos include narrow “jailbreak” scenarios and capabilities that similar generic models already possess. Company officials warn that if such findings become a cause for export restrictions, any frontier AI model may no longer be widely available.Other AI companies are watching closely. Executives across the industry fear the emergence of a fragmented AI ecosystem, with nationality determining access to the most capable systems.
This fear extends beyond China, the traditional focus of American technology controls, to close American partners in Europe, Japan, Australia, and India. Analysts say the long-term result could be the creation of a two-tiered world for AI: Tier-one models are reserved for Americans, while everyone else receives less capable versions or loses access altogether.
Ironically, such restrictions could strengthen the hand of China, which, ironically for a so-called communist state, has offered open source access to its models.
Beijing has invested heavily in developing domestic artificial intelligence specifically to avoid strategic dependence on foreign technology. If US companies become unreliable suppliers of frontier AI, countries seeking technological independence may increasingly turn to open source Chinese models or accelerate domestic alternatives.
For regular users, immediate disabling may be limited. Anthropic says access to its other models has not been affected, while competing offerings from OpenAI and Google continue to operate normally. But the bigger story is that AI is increasingly becoming a geopolitical asset rather than just a commercial product. For decades, software has crossed borders effortlessly; Frontier AI may not be. For countries like India, the lesson is becoming harder to ignore: in the age of artificial intelligence, technological self-reliance may no longer be an aspiration.
It may be a strategic necessity.
