Top-Tier AI Forced to Shut Down 3 Days After Launch: Why Did It Happen and How Are Korean Firms Involved?

On June 12, the U.S. Trump administration imposed export control measures on "Mythos 5" and "Fable 5," the cutting-edge AI models from the prominent AI company Anthropic. Following this, Anthropic completely suspended global access to these models.

Reuters reported that it obtained a letter sent by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on June 12.

In the letter, Secretary Lutnick ordered Anthropic to block access to its latest AI models, "Mythos 5" and "Fable 5," for all foreign nationals in all countries and locations, citing concerns that they could be misused by nations such as China or Russia.

According to The Washington Post, Anthropic was aware of these concerns in advance and had agreed to grant priority access to the AI models only to 111 institutions that had received prior approval from the White House.

However, it was later discovered that the list of authorized users had been significantly expanded without the White House's knowledge, with approximately 50 additional institutions gaining access to this state-of-the-art AI technology.

Citing an anonymous White House official, The Washington Post reported that the expanded list included a South Korean mobile carrier that the U.S. government had been monitoring due to "suspected ties to China."

Anthropic attempted to contain the situation by immediately revoking the Korean company's access upon discovering the issue. However, Amazon, a major investor in Anthropic, reported to the U.S. government that there were "serious security vulnerabilities in the Mythos model." Consequently, the export control sanctions were abruptly implemented following the final approval of President Trump.

Alex Stamos, former Chief Security Officer at Facebook, strongly condemned the Trump administration's excessive intervention, stating, "It is like the government handing down a death sentence for a speeding ticket."

Other tech experts also pointed out, "By setting a precedent where the government can arbitrarily shut down services at any time under the guise of national security, global companies will now feel immense anxiety about adopting U.S.-made AI systems."

As it has been reported by U.S. media that the White House suspected a domestic mobile carrier of having "ties to China" while reviewing the access list, there are growing concerns over the potential fallout.

Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Seo Byeong-uk | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.