Trump administration orders Anthropic to shut down access to Claude Mythos AI model over concerns about SK Telecom and alleged security vulnerabilities.

What happened

The Trump administration demanded that Anthropic revoke access to its Claude Mythos and Fable 5 models for all foreign nationals, including immigrants inside the US. Anthropic decided to disable access to both models entirely rather than restrict by nationality. The order followed the White House's discovery that SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless carrier, had received access to Mythos through Anthropic's Project Glasswing program, and after Amazon researchers flagged vulnerabilities in Fable 5 to the White House.

Why it matters

US officials were concerned about SK Telecom's ties to China, particularly its historical involvement with China Unicom dating back to 2004 and its ongoing $17 million（約27億円） investment in a joint venture with the Chinese carrier. Although SK Telecom generated only $1.9 million（約3億円） in revenue from China in 2024 and employed seven people there, the broader SK Group conglomerate maintains extensive business interests in China. The White House concluded it could not trust Anthropic to safeguard its most advanced AI technology, which is exceptionally skilled at identifying software vulnerabilities.

What to watch

The White House and Anthropic remain at odds after days of negotiations about bringing Claude Mythos and Fable 5 back online. SK Telecom had previously invested $100 million（約160億円） in Anthropic in 2023 and participated in Project Glasswing alongside Samsung Electronics and the Korea Internet and Security Agency; the path forward for these relationships remains unclear.