The UK government is urgently assessing the economic and security impacts of consumers losing access to the latest frontier AI models. The Cabinet Office has asked the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade to examine the hit to the UK economy if Britons were blocked from new AI models from Anthropic and OpenAI, with work expected within weeks.

President Donald Trump's June directive demanding foreign national access to Anthropic's Fable 5 model be rescinded fuelled alarm in Whitehall. While Anthropic relaunched globally, concerns remain about Britons being denied cutting-edge models. Officials are exploring the economic hit if UK firms cannot exploit latest innovations, and security risks if foreign users exploit cyber vulnerabilities first.

Dame Chi Onwurah said the government needs a plan to address dependency and achieve sovereign capabilities. Former NCSC chief Ciaran Martin called the Fable 5 episode "reassuring" as Anthropic withdrew the model entirely, but warned the US could leverage the AI stack to pressure countries.

The UK is investing via its £1.1bn AI hardware plan and £500mn sovereign AI fund. The government said AI is "at the heart" of its agenda, with an AI minister at the cabinet table and efforts to build computing power for advanced AI in Britain.