SK Telecom Identified as Company That Triggered Anthropic's Mythos Export Ban

Summary: SK Telecom has been named as the South Korean company whose access to Anthropic's Mythos 5 — through the invite-only Project Glasswing cybersecurity consortium — triggered White House pressure that led to the June 12 export-control shutdown of Mythos and Fable 5 worldwide.

Key Facts

• June 12: Commerce Secretary Lutnick ordered Anthropic to block all foreign-national access to Mythos 5 and Fable 5 immediately
• SK Telecom was added to Project Glasswing in early June; White House alleged the carrier has historical ties to China — SK Telecom denies this
• Four organizations had Glasswing access revoked before the formal export-control order: SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency)
• Amazon researchers separately flagged vulnerabilities in Fable 5 to the White House, compounding the administration's concerns
• Negotiations between Anthropic and the Trump administration are ongoing; no restoration date confirmed

Why It Matters

This is the first public case where AI export controls were applied not to a specific country but to a company's access profile — triggered by alleged third-party ties rather than the end-user's own nationality. It sets a precedent: foreign firms that are investors in or partners of U.S. frontier AI labs can have access revoked unilaterally and without notice if government officials develop security concerns.

Read More

• SK Telecom named at center of Anthropic's Mythos controversy — Tom's Hardware
• White House officials pin Anthropic AI export block on Korean telecom — Korea JoongAng Daily