Anthropic Employees Accuse Trump Administration of Targeting Them

Anthropic, an artificial intelligence company based in San Francisco, faced a sudden directive from the Trump administration on Friday to remove its latest AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, within 90 minutes. Employees were left puzzled by the abrupt order, which cited national security concerns but provided inconsistent explanations, ranging from foreign company access to a major vulnerability in the models. Internal communication among Anthropic’s 3,000 employees revealed widespread confusion. Workers questioned whether the White House’s decision would impact the company’s planned public offering this year. Some employees expressed frustration, asking if anyone knew what to believe or what message to give clients. The company prepared customers for potential service disruptions, though the reasoning behind the order kept shifting. Six days after the directive, Anthropic has not received clear answers. CEO Dario Amodei and other executives met with the Trump administration on Monday and Tuesday but failed to lift the restriction on foreign access to the models. The company stated it would continue collaborating with government officials while maintaining its commitment to working alongside the administration. The situation highlights tensions between AI innovation and regulatory oversight. Anthropic’s models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, remain inaccessible to foreign nationals, leaving employees and customers in the dark about the long-term implications of the order.