via TechCrunch AI
U.S. Bans Anthropic’s Fable 5 Release — But the Numbers Don’t Seem to Care
In a dramatic end to the week, the U.S. government forced Anthropic to pull its two newest AI models — Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — citing national security concerns. The move came after Amazon researchers reportedly discovered a method to bypass Fable 5’s guardrails.
However, cybersecurity researchers have since signed an open letter calling the ban dangerous, noting that similar jailbreak techniques exist in other models. Anthropic itself has pointed out that the vulnerabilities are not unique to its systems, raising the question: Is this a genuine security threat or just the latest chapter in Anthropic’s fraught relationship with the Trump administration?
On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Anthony Ha, Sean O’Kane, and Rebecca Bellan unpack the implications of the ban — for developers building on Anthropic’s platform, for the company’s upcoming IPO, and for the broader AI landscape. They also explore why the controversy might actually be a surprising boost for Anthropic’s sales.
Listen to the full episode for more on:
- Why the UK’s social media ban for users under 16 might be the lesser of two evils
- What the SpaceX-Cursor acquisition reveals about xAI’s strategy (and its gaps)
- Jeff Bezos’s $12 billion bet on physical AI with Prometheus, the startup aiming to build an “artificial engineer”
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