U.S. political leadership has signaled a de-escalation in its public characterization of Anthropic, the artificial intelligence developer at the center of a dispute over foreign access to its leading models. In a recent interview, the president said that while he might have viewed the company as a national security threat a week earlier, he no longer holds that view.
According to the interview, the company moved quickly to comply with an administration directive that ordered Anthropic to block foreign nationals from accessing its most capable AI models, named Fable 5 and Mythos 5. Following the directive, Anthropic disabled access for all users to those two models.
Senior technical staff from Anthropic were scheduled to meet with administration officials earlier this week to discuss the dispute over foreign access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5. The interview also noted that the company’s chief executive, Dario Amodei, met with the president and other world leaders and technology executives at a summit in France this week.
Details from the interview
- When asked whether he viewed Anthropic or its CEO as a national security threat, the president said: "Well, not now, but a week ago, maybe."
- The president said Amodei had responded to the administration’s export control directive "very quickly" and "responsibly."
- Asked about the possibility of invoking emergency authorities, the president said: "I have the power to use a lot of things," adding, "But I’m not sure I have to do that."
Company response
An Anthropic spokesperson was quoted commenting on the conversation with the administration, saying: "We are grateful to the administration for their ongoing partnership in working to get this matter resolved as quickly as possible. We remain committed to working alongside them towards our shared goals of protecting critical infrastructure and making sure the U.S. leads in AI."
The spokesperson’s statement framed the company’s posture as collaborative, emphasizing alignment with the administration on protecting infrastructure and maintaining U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence.
Context retained in official accounts
The interview outlined a sequence in which the administration issued an order to restrict foreign access to Anthropic’s most capable models, Anthropic disabled access to those models for all users in response, and technical staff were scheduled to meet with officials to address the dispute.
Beyond the statements quoted and the described meetings, the interview reiterated that the president has not closed the door on use of emergency authorities such as the Defense Production Act, but he indicated uncertainty about whether such measures would be necessary.
This account leaves open the near-term procedural steps between the company and the administration as they seek resolution, while reflecting both the administration’s enforcement posture and the company’s stated cooperation.