Anthropic urges california to allow legal action against high-risk AI models

On October 29, 2026, Reuters reported that Anthropic, an AI company, sent a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom urging the government to have the authority to seek court orders to block the release of AI models deemed to pose a 'serious risk' to the public. This comes after Anthropic itself faced government restrictions earlier this year, when the U.S. government initially ordered it to limit foreign access to its Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models due to national security concerns, but later reversed the decision. In September 2026, Newsom convened an AI expert panel to develop safety recommendations, to which Anthropic submitted its views. OpenAI also submitted its own recommendations to Newsom in October. Anthropic emphasized that an 'emergency shutdown switch' could create a false sense of security, preferring instead targeted measures like disabling problematic AI agents or suspending specific customer access. Meanwhile, a bipartisan Senate bill in September 2026 aimed to authorize the government to ban AI models deemed unsafe, with the option for companies to challenge the decision in federal court. However, the bill stalled as Congress entered its election period. In July, a House bill proposed granting government officials the power to shut down AI models that threaten human life or the economy.