Anthropic brought back Fable 5 for users on Wednesday, hours after the Trump administration lifted export controls on the model. The AI lab had suspended access following a government intervention, which demanded additional safety safeguards before the tool could be broadly released.
The dispute underscores mounting federal scrutiny of frontier AI models. The White House is accelerating plans for formal AI model standards, with guidance expected as soon as next week, according to the Financial Times. The case has raised questions about how and when the administration will block future releases.
Fable 5 is now available to all customers, though Anthropic routes queries deemed to pose security or safety risks to less powerful models. Most users will pay per token outside subscription plans; subscribers can access Fable through July 7 but will burn through tokens faster.
OpenAI has also delayed broad release of its latest model, GPT 5.6, while consulting with the government, which requested the hold. The pattern signals a new era of pre-release federal oversight over the most capable AI systems.
Critics argue the administration's case-by-case approach creates uncertainty for AI developers and may stifle innovation without clear statutory authority.