Trump White House Swaps Anthropic CEO in AI Export Control Talks
Export controls remain in place following National Security Agency concerns, while bipartisan lawmakers demand clarity on restoration criteria from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The Trump administration has replaced Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei with co-founder Tom Brown in high-stakes meetings regarding the potential re-release of the Claude Fable 5 AI model. Officials described Amodei as difficult to engage with, while Brown and public policy chief Sarah Heck have led recent outreach efforts that have been met with greater receptivity from White House counterparts.
Export controls imposed on 12 June following National Security Agency identification of vulnerabilities in the restricted Mythos model remain active. The administration has not yet lifted these restrictions, which took Anthropic’s most powerful models offline after concerns were raised about the ability to disable guardrails and access restricted capabilities.
Conversations are occurring at both executive and technical levels, involving staff from both sides. Discussions are focused on establishing what level of proof from Anthropic might alleviate concerns about jailbreaks of Fable 5. One person familiar with the calls described Amodei as a "weirdo" and stated that Tom Brown "can actually engage," noting that previous leadership was too difficult to talk to and did not listen to concerns.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has demanded answers from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick regarding the criteria and timeline for restoring public access to the model. The letter, signed by Representatives Sam Liccardo, Jay Obernolte, C. Scott Franklin, and Ted Lieu, demanded responses by 26 June, asking specifically what criteria the Department relies upon for determining whether to restore public access and what the timeline for that decision is.
The timeline for Anthropic being able to re-deploy Fable 5 remains uncertain. However, what the company needs to do to lift the export controls could become clearer in the coming days as talks continue at working-group levels. A White House spokesperson declined to comment, and an Anthropic spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
