Millions to regain access after Trump admin lifts restrictions on Anthropic's advanced AI models

WASHINGTON, DC: Users waiting to access Anthropic's latest artificial intelligence technology will soon be able to do so after the Trump administration reversed its earlier export restrictions.

On Tuesday, June 30, the administration lifted the controls imposed just over two weeks ago, allowing the company to restore public access beginning Wednesday.

The decision marks a major policy reversal after the restrictions sparked criticism from AI experts and comes as the White House continues shaping its approach to artificial intelligence.

Trump administration clears Anthropic to restore public access

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced the decision on X (formerly Twitter), saying the administration had worked with Anthropic before approving the company's latest AI technology.

"We have worked closely with Anthropic to analyze and approve Fable 5 to ensure alignment across the US Government and strengthen America's leadership in AI," Lutnick wrote.

Anthropic confirmed it had been notified of the decision and said it would begin restoring access on Wednesday.

"We're grateful to our users for their patience, and to everyone who worked with us on redeploying the models," the company posted on X.

In a letter to Anthropic co-founder Tom Brown, Lutnick also confirmed that "a license is no longer required" for the export or transfer of the company's latest AI models.

Restrictions were imposed just days after launch

Earlier this month, the Trump administration ordered Anthropic to pull its newest AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, only three days after they were released.

The technology was based on Anthropic's earlier AI system, which the company had initially decided not to release publicly over concerns it could boost hacking capabilities.

The public version launched with safeguards designed to prevent dangerous uses, while another version with fewer restrictions was shared only with a limited group of cyber-defenders and infrastructure providers.

Reports at the time said the administration acted after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy raised concerns about a possible way to bypass the built-in safeguards. Amazon is an investor in Anthropic.

A source close to the company previously said Anthropic was given just 90 minutes to remove the models without any prior warning of a national security concern.

Reversal follows criticism from AI community

The export controls drew backlash from AI policy experts across the political spectrum, who argued the administration's approach could hurt private AI development.

Just before Lutnick's announcement, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles praised collaboration between the government and technology companies under President Donald Trump's AI cybersecurity order.

"This includes excellent work around advanced model access and guardrail testing and security," Wiles wrote. "Our shared priority remains: get the best tech deployed as quickly and safely as possible."

The administration has also asked OpenAI to delay the wider release of its newest GPT-5.6 model, although it did not impose formal export controls on the company.

OpenAI has instead made the technology available to a limited group of trusted partners while working toward a larger rollout.