Anthropic captures 41% corporate AI share after US government ban

The Trump administration's decision to ban Anthropic's Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models over national security concerns has inadvertently boosted the company's brand, with corporate AI market share reaching 41% in May, according to Ramp data.

"The company's most successful month coincided exactly with the period when the Department of Defense declared it a risk to the supply chain," Ara Kharazian, chief economist at Ramp, said. "The model being labeled 'too dangerous for use' serves as a unique advertisement for how powerful it actually is."

Anthropic's 41% share of corporate AI subscriptions surpassed OpenAI's 39.5% for the first time, based on data from more than 70,000 business entities on the Ramp platform. The milestone came as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ordered Anthropic to obtain a government license before any foreign person could use Mythos 5 or Fable 5, citing the Export Administration Regulations. Anthropic was given less than 90 minutes to comply and ultimately pulled both models from the market.

The company has attracted $65 billion in investment, valuing it at $965 billion, and has filed confidential documents for an initial public offering. The ban, which applies globally and has already prompted French President Emmanuel Macron to seek alternatives for European access, creates a "forbidden fruit" narrative that could further drive demand outside the US.

The Commerce Department's action followed warnings from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy that researchers had found evidence it was possible to bypass the models' safety guardrails. A senior administration official said the White House had received warnings from "nearly half a dozen" companies before acting. Lutnick's letter to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei cited the Export Administration Regulations, which give the government authority to restrict US-made products that pose "an unacceptable risk of use in, or diversion to, a military-intelligence end use."

Legal experts have questioned the basis for the ban. Alasdair Phillips-Robins, a former senior policy adviser for the Commerce Department and current fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the letter "is so badly drafted it might not restrict API/chatbot access at all." He argued that the EAR "are not a roving license to ban unsafe products or punish companies the White House thinks are irresponsible."

The ban has also created diplomatic friction. Trump refused UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's request for an exemption, while Macron met with Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the G7 Summit in France to discuss European access to advanced AI models. Amodei urged world leaders to "resist the temptation to splinter" in their approaches to AI regulation.

Anthropic has dispatched cofounder Tom Brown, chief compute officer, and Sarah Heck, head of public policy, to lead negotiations with Trump administration officials. The company has pledged to improve communication with the White House and resolve security concerns more quickly, though an exact timetable for a permanent fix remains unclear.

Anthropic's $65 billion in total investment and $965 billion valuation reflect investor confidence that the regulatory clash will not derail its momentum. The confidential IPO filing suggests the company expects the dispute to resolve before a public listing. For investors, the key question is whether the ban's "forbidden fruit" effect can sustain corporate market share gains above OpenAI, which still dominates the consumer segment but saw its corporate growth stagnate in May.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.