The White House quietly reversed course and is now smoothing the path for spy agencies to use Anthropic's AI

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Just months after directing every federal agency to immediately stop using Anthropic's technology and having the Pentagon label the company a supply chain risk to national security, the White House is now developing guidance that would let agencies bypass that same designation, according to sources familiar with the matter cited by CNBC. The draft guidance would clear the way for agencies including intelligence services to use Anthropic's tools, including its powerful Mythos AI model built specifically for cybersecurity work

The original ban followed a months long dispute between the Pentagon and Anthropic over the company's refusal to loosen restrictions on its AI being used for autonomous weapons systems or mass domestic surveillance. President Trump had directed every federal agency to cease all use of Anthropic's technology in a February Truth Social post, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated the company a supply chain risk, a label typically reserved for foreign adversaries that bars military contractors from doing business with the designated party

Retired General Paul Nakasone, who previously led both the NSA and Cyber Command and now sits on OpenAI's board, publicly pushed back on the original designation at a Vanderbilt University event, saying he didn't think it was accurate that Anthropic represented a supply chain risk and that he felt uncomfortable knowing part of the nation's AI capability was going unused by its own government

A CNBC report this week frames the bigger picture even more starkly, describing the White House as effectively dictating which frontier AI models get released and when, shifting real power away from the tech companies that built them. Both Anthropic and OpenAI have historically decided independently which partners get access to their most capable models, Anthropic through a restricted program called Project Glasswing for its Mythos model and OpenAI through an equivalent consortium called Daybreak. Last month the administration blocked access to Claude Mythos 5 and Fable 5 entirely over stated national security concerns, only restoring it after weeks of intense negotiation, while OpenAI has separately said it would limit new model releases to trusted partners specifically to comply with government requests. A White House official told CNBC the administration doesn't approve AI releases and that any engagement with the labs remains voluntary, with timing and scope of releases resting entirely with the companies themselves

The White House is dictating access to frontier AI models, shifting power from tech giants, sources saywww.cnbc.com

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Going from immediately cease all use to quietly drafting guidance to bring the same company back within a matter of months is a genuinely fast reversal for something framed so dramatically the first time around