- The article reveals that the controversy surrounding Anthropic’s AI models, Claude Mythos and Fable 5, involves the South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom.
- The US government reportedly requested Anthropic to revoke SK Telecom’s access to Claude Mythos before imposing export control measures.
- Some US officials expressed concerns regarding what they perceive as SK Telecom’s links to China.
- Sources say these concerns emerged alongside a report from Amazon researchers about the ability to bypass several of Fable 5’s protection mechanisms. Fable 5 is a specially protected version of Claude Mythos, released publicly by Anthropic on June 9, 2026.
- Anthropic and many external security experts countered that these risks are not unique to Claude.
- According to a source close to the US administration, the combination of security concerns and the SK Telecom incident caused the White House to lose faith in Anthropic’s ability to control its technology.
- On June 13, the Trump administration ordered Anthropic to stop providing Mythos and Fable 5 to all non-US citizens.
- SK Telecom had not provided an official response to WIRED at the time of the article’s publication.
- Previously, SK Telecom denied reports of links to China, calling statements in foreign media baseless.
- Claude Mythos was originally provided to a limited group of trusted organizations through the “Project Glasswing” program.
- In early June, SK Telecom became one of approximately 150 organizations granted access to Mythos when Anthropic expanded the program.
- SK Telecom invested $100 million in Anthropic in 2023, and the two sides established a partnership to develop AI for the telecommunications industry.
- Besides SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) also participated in Project Glasswing.
- According to a source close to Anthropic, the company immediately revoked SK Telecom’s access to Mythos following the White House request.
- At that time, the US government had not yet threatened to impose export controls on the model.
- Although SK Telecom currently has limited operations in China, it is a member of the SK Group, which has numerous business interests there in the semiconductor and energy sectors.
- Annual reports show SK Telecom generated only about $1.9 million in revenue from China in 2024 and has only seven employees there. However, the company’s history of cooperation with the Chinese telecom industry spans over 20 years.
- In 2004, SK Telecom and China Unicom established the UNISK joint venture to provide mobile internet services in China.
- In 2006, SK Telecom invested approximately $1 billion in China Unicom’s convertible bonds and later owned about a 6.6% stake.
- SK Telecom sold most of this investment back to China Unicom in 2009 for about $1.3 billion.
- Nevertheless, the company still maintains an investment related to UNISK worth about $17 million in its 2025 report.
- China Unicom was previously subjected to investment restrictions by the Trump administration in 2021 due to national security concerns.
- In April 2026, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also proposed restricting connections between US carriers and China Unicom along with several other Chinese telecom firms.
📌 The crisis surrounding Claude Mythos and Fable 5 involves not only technical debates on AI safety but also reflects US-China geopolitical tensions. According to WIRED, granting SK Telecom access to Mythos intensified concerns among some US officials due to the group’s long history of cooperation with China. Combined with warnings about bypassing Fable 5’s safeguards, the incident led to an unprecedented decision: requiring Anthropic to block access for all non-US citizens. This highlights the trend of advanced AI increasingly being viewed as a strategic asset similar to defense technology or semiconductors.
