Explainer · updated Jun 30, 2026
What is Claude Mythos?
Claude Mythos is Anthropic’s Mythos-class — a tier of model positioned above Opus. It launched first as Mythos Preview in April 2026, then publicly as Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5 on June 9, 2026. This page is an independent, plain-language explainer; for the live availability of Fable 5 and Mythos 5, see the status tracker.
Live availability verdict
Fable 5 & Mythos 5: access suspended
SuspendedAnthropic's status page reports an active incident: "We’ve suspended access to Claude Mythos 5 and Claude Fable 5." Access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 remains suspended pending a US government export-control directive.
The Mythos-class tier, in one paragraph
“Mythos-class” describes a capability tier that Anthropic places above its Opus models. The name comes up in three forms people search for — claude mythos, anthropic mythos, and mythos anthropic — but they all refer to the same thing: the most capable Claude tier, delivered first to a controlled set of organizations and then, in safeguarded form, more broadly.
The three Mythos-class models
- Claude Mythos Preview (April 2026) — the first Mythos-class model, released to ~50 organizations via Project Glasswing.
- Claude Fable 5 (June 9, 2026) — the publicly available Mythos-class model, shipped with safety classifiers. The name nods to the Latin fabula (“that which is told”), akin to the Greek mythos.
- Claude Mythos 5 (June 9, 2026) — the same model as Fable 5 with safety classifiers lifted, offered only through Project Glasswing.
See the full model comparison for sourced specs, pricing, and access paths.
Fable 5 vs Mythos 5: the safeguards split
This is the single most misunderstood point. Fable 5 and Mythos 5 are the same underlying model. The difference is entirely in safeguards: Fable 5 runs safety classifiers covering cybersecurity, biology/chemistry, and distillation, and reroutes flagged requests — fewer than 5% of sessions — to Claude Opus 4.8, telling the user when it does. Mythos 5 removes those classifiers and is restricted to Glasswing organizations.
What is Project Glasswing?
Project Glasswing is the limited-access program through which Mythos-class models reach selected organizations — starting with around 50 in cyberdefense and critical infrastructure (including the US government) and later expanding to roughly 150 organizations across more than 15 countries. Follow Glasswing news for updates.
Specs, pricing, and access
- Context: 1M tokens; output: up to 128k.
- Pricing: $10 / $50 per million input/output tokens after the intro window.
- Data: Covered Models, 30-day retention, no zero-data-retention option.
- Fable 5 availability at GA: Claude API, Claude Platform on AWS, Amazon Bedrock, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Foundry.
Current status
The headline live fact is access: following a US government export-control directive on June 12, 2026, access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 was suspended. The verdict above reflects whatever the official sources currently say. Recent milestones:
- Launch
Anthropic Finally Got US Approval To Launch Mythos 5 – Sort Of
- Policy
Claude Fable 5 restored for International customers by…? ... 2026
- Launch
Gemini 3.5 Pro Cleared for July Launch as Fable 5 Nears Return, GPT-5.6 Stays Locked
- Policy
Trump Administration Eases AI Restrictions, Allowing Anthropic to Restore Limited Access to Mythos 5
- Policy
Anthropic restores access to Mythos 5 for select organizations
- Launch
Anthropic Just Released The AI They Said Was Too Dangerous | Claude Fable 5 & Mythos Explained Santiago Espinal (EZGK8eAXa4)
See the full Mythos timeline →
Latest Mythos news
- Qihoo 360: The Cyber Giant Behind China’s Mythos Rival · Forbes
- China’s New Zhipu AI Reportedly Matches Claude Mythos in Vulnerability Detection · CyberSecurityNews
- You don't need Mythos to defend against Mythos · Yahoo Tech
- How Fable 5 benchmark turned into a an actual game · reddit.com
- Anthropic releases Claude Fable 5 with new safeguards and API access · MSN
Browse all tracked Mythos & Fable news →
Claude Mythos: frequently asked questions
What is Claude Mythos?
Claude Mythos is Anthropic’s Mythos-class tier — a class of model positioned above Opus in capability. It first appeared as Claude Mythos Preview in April 2026, and the tier now includes Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5, which launched on June 9, 2026.
When was Claude Mythos released?
Claude Mythos Preview shipped in April 2026 to a small set of organizations through Project Glasswing. The public Mythos-class models — Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — launched on June 9, 2026. See our timeline for the full sequence.
What is the difference between Fable 5 and Mythos 5?
They are the same underlying model; the difference is safeguards. Fable 5 ships with safety classifiers (covering cybersecurity, biology/chemistry, and distillation) that reroute a small share of flagged requests (under 5% of sessions) to Claude Opus 4.8, and the user is told. Mythos 5 is the same model with those classifiers lifted, offered only through Project Glasswing.
What is Project Glasswing?
Project Glasswing is Anthropic’s limited-access program that ships Mythos-class models to selected organizations — initially around 50 in cyberdefense and critical infrastructure, including the US government, later expanded to roughly 150 orgs across 15+ countries.
Is Claude Mythos available right now?
Anthropic's status page reports an active incident: "We’ve suspended access to Claude Mythos 5 and Claude Fable 5." Access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 remains suspended pending a US government export-control directive. This is a live verdict — see the status tracker for the current state.
How does Claude Mythos compare to Opus 4.8?
Mythos-class sits a tier above Opus. The Mythos-class models offer a 1M-token context window and up to 128k output. Notably, Fable 5 uses Opus 4.8 as a safety fallback — flagged requests are rerouted to Opus. See the model comparison for a sourced side-by-side.
Was Claude Mythos called “Capybara”?
Some outlets reported an internal codename “Capybara” for the tier. The official term is Mythos-class; treat “Capybara” as a corrected rumor.
What are the Claude Mythos specs and pricing?
The Mythos-class models offer a 1M-token context window and up to 128k output tokens, priced at $10 / $50 per million input/output tokens after the introductory window. They are Covered Models with 30-day retention and no zero-data-retention option.
Independent explainer, written in our own words and updated as the story develops. For additional definitions and comparisons, see mythoslm.ai. Not affiliated with Anthropic.