Cyber security experts urge White House to reverse Anthropic ban
Leading cyber security professionals have called on the US government to overturn restrictions on Anthropic's most advanced AI models, warning the move could weaken online defences.
Cyber security experts have urged the White House to reverse restrictions placed on some of Anthropic's most advanced AI systems, arguing the measures could undermine efforts to protect critical digital infrastructure.
Researchers and executives from major technology firms, including Adobe, Nvidia and Zoom, signed an open letter addressed to US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross.
The group described the recent restrictions as "dangerous".
Anthropic, the company behind the Claude chatbot, was ordered last week to suspend access to its Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models for foreign nationals.
To comply with the directive, the company blocked access to the models across its customer base.
The restrictions followed reports that members of the Trump administration had received warnings from researchers at Amazon that the models posed potential national security risks.
Officials were reportedly concerned about a jailbreak vulnerability that allowed users to bypass safety guardrails, potentially enabling malicious actors to exploit the technology for cyber attacks.
However, the signatories argued that restricting access could have unintended consequences.
The letter stated: "To pull the best capabilities away from defenders without a good reason when our adversaries are rapidly advancing is dangerous.
"It is essential to provide AI to coders and security teams so they can find and fix flaws in their own newly-written as well as decades-old legacy code faster than our adversaries."
The experts also called for greater transparency around AI policymaking and closer collaboration between regulators and the technology sector.
The letter added: "This action has taken the best models away from defenders, created market uncertainty, and risked America’s AI leadership without any real risk to justify it."
Executives from Anthropic are expected to meet White House officials this week in an attempt to overturn the restrictions.
The dispute marks the latest clash between the AI company and the US government following previous disagreements over the use of artificial intelligence in military and surveillance applications.
