The US government has escalated export controls on advanced AI models. On June 12, 2026, Anthropic received a directive from Washington to suspend access to its cutting-edge models Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 for all foreign citizens. The order even applies to Anthropic’s own non-US employees, whether they are inside or outside the United States. As of June 15, the official Claude page still shows Fable 5 as unavailable. According to US authorities, the reason involves a method to bypass Fable 5’s safety guardrails. Both models are considered "too powerful" within the Claude lineup and were previously described by the company as unsuitable for public release.
This ban directly impacts Europe’s research and business ecosystem. Researchers, enterprises, and public service institutions across multiple European countries suddenly found themselves cut off from these top-tier AI tools. The European Democratic Party (PDE/EDP) publicly called out on social media: "One decision in Washington can disconnect Europe. Europe must build, fund, and scale its own AI—democratic, competitive, and made in the EU." The incident underscores the strategic risk of dependence on US AI infrastructure: when a core technology can be shut off by a single foreign government order, its value and reliability face fundamental doubt.
