I wasn't planning on writing to you today.

I wasn't planning on writing to you today.

But what just happened is too interesting to wait.

Yesterday, I told you about Fable 5, Anthropic's new model, and why I think it marks a real turning point in what AI makes possible, for you and for me.

Well, a few hours after I sent you that email, here's what happened:

the US government asked for access to Fable 5 to be cut off for all non-Americans.

In the name of national security...

Three days in public, then the pause.

What intrigues me isn't so much the cutoff itself, which will probably be temporary. It's what it reveals. When a tool becomes powerful enough for a government to step in that fast, it's no longer treated quite like a product.

And access starts to depend on something other than what you know how to do with it!

There's also a question worth thinking about. If Switzerland can no longer use a model that's clearly above anything available elsewhere, that means letting others move faster than us, in productivity as well as in capability.

Maybe it's a sign that every country, or every region, will have good reason to develop its own models rather than depend entirely on others.

I don't have a clear-cut answer on this yet, but the question now seems serious to me, and I felt I needed to share it with you.

Anyway, none of this is dramatic. It's just one more sign that things are moving fast right now!

And as you know, tomorrow is when Ergon Report #10: Knowing what's right comes out. I'm actually working some of what's happening right now into it, because for those of you who have decisions to make in your company or your profession, these issues are becoming hard to ignore.

Until tomorrow,

Salim