Trump administration The decision to impose export controls on Anthropic’s most powerful artificial intelligence technology comes after a dispute over the company granting South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom access to its Claude Mythos model, according to people familiar with the matter. These people said U.S. officials were concerned about SK Telecom’s alleged ties to China.
These concerns appear to have escalated when Amazon later reported to the White House security vulnerabilities it identified in Fable 5, the highly secured version of Mythos that Anthropic released to the public on June 9. Amazon researchers claimed it was possible to bypass some of Fable 5’s security barriers and gain access to Mythos’ powerful cyber capabilities, although Anthropic and third-party cybersecurity experts say these threats are not unique to Claude.
According to a person close to the administration, the confluence of events ultimately led the White House to say it could not trust Anthropic to protect its most advanced artificial intelligence technology. On Friday, the Trump administration ordered Anthropic to revoke access to Mythos and Fable 5 for all foreigners, including immigrants in the US.
Rather than provide access to its technology based on nationality, which would be arduous to implement while maintaining privacy, Anthropic decided it would be better to prevent access to models altogether. The White House and Anthropic are still at odds after days of negotiations over bringing Claude Mythos and Fable 5 back online.
Anthropic declined to comment. The White House and SK Telecom did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post previously reported that Trump administration officials were alarmed to learn that Mythos’ recipients included “South Korean telecommunications company“, they believed, had ties to China, although the company was not named in the article. In response to this report, SK Telecom he told a Korean newspaper that “the anonymous whistleblower’s comments in foreign media lack verified facts and our company has no ties to China.”
A person close to Anthropic said the company views SK Telecom’s access to Mythos and the security vulnerabilities identified by Amazon as separate issues. They noticed it letter the US government sent to Anthropic requesting that Claude Mythos and Fable 5 be restricted to US citizens only makes no mention of the Korean company or China.
Because Claude Mythos has a unique ability to identify software vulnerabilities, Anthropic circumscribed early access to a tiny group of trusted organizations through a program called Project Glasswing. Earlier this month, SK Telecom, the largest wireless operator in South Korea, became one of approximately 150 companies to gain access to Mythos as Anthropic expanded the program.after several weeks of close cooperation” with outside experts and the U.S. government.
SK Telecom has invested capital in Anthropic several times, including: 100 million dollars investment in 2023, which coincided with the establishment of company a commercial partnership development of an AI model adapted to the telecommunications industry. It was one of several Korean organizations that participated in the Glasswing project, along with Samsung Electronics and the Korea Internet and Security Agency.
Earlier this month, shortly after Anthropic announced the latest expansion of Project Glasswing, the White House asked Anthropic to revoke SK Telecom’s access to Mythos, according to a person close to the artificial intelligence lab. WIRED sources say the company immediately complied, and the U.S. government did not threaten to impose export controls on the model at the time.
Although SK Telecom itself does not have major operations in China, it is part of a much larger conglomerate called SK Group, whose affiliates maintain extensive business interests in the country, spanning semiconductors, energy and other industries.