TOI correspondent from Washington: In a move that could redefine the global artificial intelligence landscape, the Trump administration on Friday suddenly ordered AI firm Anthropic to suspend access to its latest Frontier models – the Fable 5 and Mythos 5 – for all foreign nationals, regardless of where they are located, including non-US employees working in the US. The directive issued under U.S. export-control rules by officials citing national security concerns effectively forced Anthropic to pull all models overnight. The company, which like most tech companies employs many foreign nationals including Indians, said it could not differentiate between US and foreign users quickly enough to comply with the order.“The net effect of this order is that we must abruptly disable the Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for all of our customers to ensure compliance,” Anthropic said. He stressed that the government’s actions stemmed from a “misunderstanding” and expressed hope that access would be restored.The episode marks a dramatic increase in Washington’s efforts to treat cutting-edge AI capabilities like advanced semiconductors – technologies whose distribution is controlled because of their potential military value.At the center of the controversy is Mythos 5, a powerful cybersecurity-focused model that Anthropic had earlier limited to a select group of trusted organizations in India through an initiative called Project Glasswing. The model was designed to identify software vulnerabilities at a scale and speed beyond most human researchers, potentially helping governments and companies defend themselves against cyberattacks. But the same capability that can spot vulnerabilities can also help identify ways to exploit them.India’s involvement in Project Glasswing, announced just two weeks ago, was an unusually significant gesture, given that New Delhi is not a formal US treaty ally. It was the only major non-aligned power in the group of 15 countries, including Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada and South Korea. The decision was widely interpreted as a recognition of India’s vast software talent pool and its growing strategic importance in the AI race.That access now appears uncertain, reminding New Delhi of the risks of relying on foreign-controlled AI infrastructure, and intensifying calls for “sovereign AI.” In a social media post, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu described the development as proof that “technology is the ultimate weapon” and argued that “globalization is dead.” He urged Indian organizations to adopt smaller Indian and Chinese open-source models where appropriate, while deepening indigenous research efforts.Meanwhile, the U.S. government order also has an ironic twist: It affects some of the people who helped build these systems. Anthropic employs a large number of Indian-origin engineers and researchers, including Chief Technology Officer Rahul Patil, formerly CTO of Stripe. The company also maintains operations in Bengaluru as part of its wider international expansion. Under the interpretation of the “foreign nationals” directive, non-US citizens within Anthropic could potentially lose access to models they helped develop.Anthropic has vehemently opposed the government’s action, arguing that the alleged security concerns surrounding Mythos include narrow “jailbreak” scenarios and capabilities that comparable public models already possess. Company officials have warned that if such findings become the basis for export restrictions, any Frontier AI models will no longer be widely accessible.Other AI companies are watching closely. Executives across the industry fear the emergence of a fragmented AI ecosystem in which nationality determines access to the most capable systems. This concern extends beyond China, the traditional focus of US technology control, to close US partners in Europe, Japan, Australia and India. Analysts say the long-term result could be the creation of a two-tier AI world: Top-tier models are reserved for Americans, while everyone else gets less capable versions or loses access altogether. Paradoxically, such restrictions could strengthen the hand of China, which, ironically for a so-called communist country, has offered open source access to its models. Beijing has invested heavily in indigenous AI development to avoid strategic dependence on foreign technology. If US companies become unreliable suppliers of frontier AI, countries seeking technological freedom may increasingly turn to the Chinese open-source model or accelerate domestic alternatives. For ordinary users, the immediate disruption may be limited. Anthropic says access to its other models will be unaffected, while competing offerings from OpenAI and Google will continue to operate as normal. The bigger story, however, is that AI is increasingly becoming a geopolitical asset rather than just a commercial product. For decades, software easily crossed borders; Frontier may not be AI. And for countries like India, this lesson is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: in the age of artificial intelligence, technological self-reliance can no longer be an aspiration. This may be a strategic necessity.