The US government issued a Friday-night export control directive against Anthropic's Fable 5, citing a jailbreak that could expose advanced cyber capabilities built into the underlying Mythos model. No statutory authority was publicly disclosed. No comment period was given.
Sam Enzer, Partner and CahillNXT Co-Chair at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, joins Austin Campbell, Ram Ahluwalia, and Chris Perkins to assess the directive's legal standing. Enzer draws a parallel to Gensler-era regulation by enforcement: familiar government power applied to new technology, with no transparent framework. His central question: if export controls can reach an AI model's API, can the same authority reach a US-based DeFi protocol serving foreign nationals?
Austin raises the Choke Point parallel and asks where the limiting principle actually is. Ram argues that restricting software is restricting speech under the First Amendment. Chris warns that national security will always be the trump card unless the industry makes a credible counter-argument.
Hosts:
Austin Campbell, Host of Bits + Bips, Founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting, and Adjunct Professor at NYU Stern - https://x.com/austincampbell
Ram Ahluwalia, Co-host of Bits + Bips and CEO of Lumida - https://x.com/ramahluwalia
Chris Perkins, Co-host of Bits + Bips and CEO of 250 Digital Asset Management - https://x.com/perkinscr97
Guest:
Sam Enzer, Partner and CahillNXT Co-Chair at Cahill Gordon & Reindel
This clip is from a longer conversation on AI export controls, national security, and the First Amendment. Full episode here: https://youtube.com/live/pEh1zr1pj90
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Chapters
🤖 00:00 Austin on the Fable 5 export directive: what the ban said and what Anthropic disputes
⚖️ 02:09 Sam Enzer's initial take: a familiar overreach pattern with unfamiliar stakes
📜 05:03 Sam on what's missing from the directive: no public letter, no statutory basis, no comment period
🏛️ 07:06 Austin on the Choke Point parallel and the question the government hasn't answered
🔒 08:40 Chris on national security as the regulatory trump card and what the industry needs to counter it
📚12:21 Ram on why banning a model is the new book burning
🗳️ 18:15 Sam on what the government should do: due process, disclosed authority, and FOIA
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