The White House is under fire for a directive prompting Anthropic to pull its latest models, with AI policy advocates warning the move signals an “ad hoc” approach to AI regulation. Anthropic disabled access to its newest Fable and Mythos models Friday after receiving a federal export control order requiring it to block foreign nationals from using them. The rare move caught the tech industry by surprise and stoked concerns the directive could set a precedent for government influence on AI development. “When ad hoc executive actions replace clear standards, America risks surrendering its lead in AI and allowing genuinely dangerous technology to be deployed,” said Brad Carson, president of Americans for Responsible Innovation. Anthropic revealed late Friday it had pulled Fable 5 and Mythos 5, just three days after their release. The models are both based on the Mythos model that the company initially opted not to release amid concerns it could supercharge hacking capabilities. Several outlets reported Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had reached out to the administration Thursday to flag concerns about a potential method of “jailbreaking” guardrails on Fable. A source close to Anthropic said the Trump administration gave the company 90 minutes to pull Fable, without any prior indication about a threat to national security. AI policy figures criticized the directive, arguing Fable’s takedown exemplified a “licensing regime,” just weeks after the White House clarified it only supports optional government testing and limited oversight.