Synopsis
India's brief access to advanced AI models from Anthropic has ended. A US government directive halted local access to Mythos 5 and Fable 5. This development signals a new AI export control regime. Governments now view frontier AI as strategic assets. India's engagement on technology policy faces new challenges.Listen to this article in summarized format
After Anthropic expanded access to its closely guarded Claude Mythos system to a handful of Indian organisations, a US government directive led the company to suspend local access to Mythos 5 and Fable 5, raising questions about whether frontier AI models are becoming geopolitical assets similar to advanced semiconductors that remain the exclusive preserve of a chosen few.
The Centre, an official told ET,would continue to engage with both Anthropic and Washington to understand the scope of the restrictions and whether they are limited to Mythos 5 and Fable 5 or could extend to other models in the Mythos family.
“It’s to be seen if the latest directive is only for Mythos 5 and Fable 5, or will it also impact the other models in the Mythos class, going forward. We hope that’s not the case,” said the official cited above.
The significance of this suspension lies in how Anthropic rolled out the models. Mythos 5, among the company’s most advanced AI systems, was initially kept under restricted access and made available only to a small group of researchers, cybersecurity experts and trusted partners because of its powerful cyber and reasoning capabilities.
Through its Project Glasswing cybersecurity initiative, Anthropic gradually expanded access to select organisations. It then launched Fable 5, a more widely accessible version, just a few days ago.
Now access to both these models has been suspended following the US directive.
The development is particularly significant for India. Several organisations across cybersecurity, telecom, finance and banking had secured early access to Mythos under Project Glasswing, ET had reported last week.
