The Trump administration's recent directive to control artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has sparked widespread concern across the software development industry, marking what Bloomberg describes as the government's most significant intervention in the AI market to date. The Commerce Department, led by Secretary Howard Lutnick, issued an order requiring Anthropic to obtain US government approval before allowing foreign nationals to use its advanced 'Fable 5' and 'Mythos 5' models.
This directive forced Anthropic to immediately disable access to both systems and has fundamentally altered the regulatory landscape for software developers. According to the report, the intervention is causing alarm among developers and their customers because it targets 'AI usage' rather than software code itself.
US Directive Targets Usage, Not Software Code
Historically, the technology industry operated under the assumption that while the US government could restrict the actual transfer of software code, it could not regulate the mere usage of cloud-based programs. Past official advisory opinions heavily supported this view, the report noted.
Lutnick's order shatters that precedent by now legally binding how cutting-edge AI models are used. It raises the legal question of whether simply interacting with a cloud-based AI model now legally constitutes a 'technology transfer'.
Predictability Crisis for Developers
Since the Bureau of Industry and Security is entering uncharted territory by applying 'deemed export' rules to AI usage, developers can no longer guarantee stable access to their products. Experts warn that this creates an environment of uncertainty.
'Now that the Commerce Department has done it, no company can rule out that they're going to do it again. Until or unless this is challenged, any customer has to assume this could happen for any model at any time,' said Kate Koren, a deputy director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and former Commerce Department official.
Signals of Aggressive Government Interference
For developers and corporate clients, the order fuels anxieties about the government's power to impact day-to-day business operations on broad national security grounds. This assumption comes two weeks after the previous executive order from President Donald Trump that outlined a strategy relying on companies' voluntary participation to vet AI models.
