A bipartisan group of House representatives is pressing for clarity after an export control directive knocked Anthropic's most advanced AI models offline for all users
The Trump administration pulled the plug on two of Anthropic’s most powerful AI models last week, and now Congress wants to know why.
On June 18, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers, including Representatives Sam Liccardo, Ted Lieu, and Jay Obernolte, sent a letter demanding the administration explain the rationale behind an export control directive that restricted access to Anthropic’s Fable 5 and Mythos 5 AI models. The directive, issued around June 12-13, ordered Anthropic to block access for all foreign nationals, citing national security concerns. The models didn’t just go dark for foreign users. They went offline for everyone.
A pattern, not an incident #
This is the second time this year the Trump administration has directly intervened in Anthropic’s business operations. Back on February 27, a separate directive instructed federal agencies to stop using Anthropic’s technology entirely, stemming from disputes over the company’s stance on military applications of its AI.
The company is valued at approximately $1 trillion. That’s not a scrappy startup getting caught in regulatory crossfire. That’s one of the most valuable private technology companies on Earth being told, twice in four months, that its products are either too dangerous to export or too restrictive for military use.
The cybersecurity community pushes back #
The lawmakers aren’t the only ones raising objections. Over 150 cybersecurity experts signed an open letter advocating for the lifting of restrictions on Anthropic’s AI models. Their argument centers on transparency and proportionality: if the government is going to disable widely used AI tools, there should be a clear, evidence-based risk assessment justifying the action.
What this means for investors #
For a company valued at roughly $1 trillion, two direct government interventions in under five months introduces a category of risk that most valuation models don’t price in. Anthropic isn’t publicly traded, so the immediate market impact is muted. The bipartisan nature of the congressional pushback is notable. This isn’t a partisan fight over AI regulation. It’s elected officials from both parties questioning whether the executive branch is overreaching into the tech sector without adequate justification or legislative authority.
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