UK reportedly seeks exemption from U.S. ban on Anthropic's Fable 5 and Mythos 5

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has reportedly asked the United States to exempt British citizens and companies from the recent restrictions on Anthropic's most advanced AI models, Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5.

According to the New York Post, the request came after both models were blocked for all users outside the United States.

The situation remains unclear, however. A spokesperson for Starmer told Politico that the UK government had not made any such request. As a result, media reports and official statements currently contradict one another, and it remains uncertain whether the request was ever formally submitted.

The U.S. position appears more straightforward. A Trump administration official told the New York Post that granting exemptions from export controls — even to close allies such as G7 members — would be "completely illogical." At the same time, the report notes that the administration remains open to discussions with Anthropic regarding the restrictions.

The dispute is the latest development in a story that began earlier this month. U.S. authorities ordered Anthropic to block access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all foreign users, and the company complied, while noting that it had not been given a detailed explanation for the decision.

According to the White House, the restrictions stem from a jailbreak discovered during testing. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Amazon researchers were able to obtain information from Fable 5 that could potentially be used to facilitate cyberattacks.

Anthropic has disputed the severity of the issue and has since sent technical representatives to meet with U.S. officials in an effort to ease the restrictions. So far, those discussions have not resulted in any changes.