Quickly lift the ban on Fable and Mythos! Anthropic promises to align more closely with the White House's "reconciliation proposal"

Anthropic is working to lift the export ban on its most powerful AI models, Fable and Mythos. According to The Washington Post, Anthropic executives have submitted a proposal to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, pledging closer cooperation with the White House and working to address safety concerns more quickly. Insiders say the talks are being led by co-founder and Chief Computing Officer Tom Brown and Head of Public Policy Sarah Heck, and progress is going smoothly, but there is no clear schedule for the ban to be lifted yet.
(Background: The most powerful AI from Anthropic is restricted from export by the U.S.! Fable 5 and Mythos 5 are cut off worldwide)
(Additional background: A deep dive into what’s behind Anthropic’s ban storm: safety religion, an AI civil war, and Claude’s predicament amid U.S.-China decoupling)

Key summary

• Anthropic submitted a proposal to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, pledging closer coordination with the White House and faster resolution of safety concerns.
• Negotiations are led by co-founder Tom Brown and Head of Public Policy Sarah Heck, with smooth progress but no clear timeline.
• The proposal aims to lift export restrictions on the two most powerful models, Fable and Mythos.

To thaw out the two top models that were frozen, senior executives at Anthropic have sat down at the White House negotiating table. According to The Washington Post’s report on Thursday, Anthropic executives, in the proposal submitted to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, pledged to work more closely with the White House, and to try to repair the safety concerns that led to restrictions on Fable and Mythos. In these still ongoing remedial negotiations, Anthropic has promised to improve communication with the Trump administration and handle any safety issues more quickly going forward.

The spark for this uproar began when Amazon CEO Andy Jassy warned the government that researchers had found ways to bypass the models’ safety guardrails. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick then stepped in, citing concerns that Fable and Mythos could end up in the hands of military intelligence units in countries such as China and Russia. In other words, Anthropic is now trying to regain the overseas export rights to the two models by adopting “more obedient and more transparent” measures.

The timeline is still a question mark

Insiders reveal that as of Thursday, the negotiations are being led by Anthropic co-founder and Chief Computing Officer Tom Brown, along with Head of Public Policy Sarah Heck. The two sides are talking fairly smoothly, but there is currently no clear timeline for when the issues will be fully resolved and the ban formally lifted. Neither Anthropic nor representatives from the Department of Commerce have responded to requests for comment.

As long as the ban is not lifted, Anthropic’s two strongest cards can only remain unplayed—and this negotiation will hinge on the White House’s approval.

Frequently asked questions

Why are Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos models restricted from export by the U.S.?

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick moved to impose the restrictions due to concerns that the two models could be used by military intelligence units from countries such as China and Russia. The trigger was Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s warning that someone can bypass its safety guardrails.

What conditions has Anthropic proposed in order to lift the ban?

According to The Washington Post, Anthropic submitted a proposal to the Commerce Secretary, pledging closer cooperation with the White House, improved communication, and faster resolution of safety concerns. Negotiations are led by Tom Brown and Sarah Heck, with progress going smoothly but no definite timeline yet.