Anthropic's Mythos shutdown and the global AI sovereignty dispute

Anthropic received a letter from the U.S. Department of Commerce notifying that the government had issued an export control directive requiring the suspension of all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign nationals, whether inside or outside the United States, including Anthropic employees of foreign nationality; to comply with this requirement, Anthropic has disabled both models for all customers. The incident occurred as the G7 summit was taking place in Évian, with AI sovereignty becoming a key point of divergence among Western allies. Mark Scott of Tech Policy Press had previously written an analysis of the different visions proposed by the United States, the European Union, and Canada, and why allies increasingly want to reduce dependence on Silicon Valley. The incident also exposed the lack of comprehensive AI regulation in the U.S.; on June 4, Representatives Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan released a 269-page bipartisan discussion draft, the "Great American Artificial Intelligence Act of 2026."