G7 leaders discuss 'trusted partners' scheme for cutting-edge US AI models

G7 leaders discussed a potential scheme to grant a limited number of "trusted partners" access to U.S. ‌frontier models developed by AI giants like Anthropic and therefore win an exemption from a current ban on non-U.S. nationals, three diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.

Last week, Washington decided to suspend access to Anthropic's most advanced AI models for foreign nationals, citing national security concerns.

One of the sources said a number of delegates discussed the idea with U.S. representatives, mainly with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, on the sidelines of the opening G7 summit dinner in the French lakeside resort of Evian-les-Bains.

These "trusted partners" could be countries or companies, said a second source, who declined to be ‌named because the talks were ongoing.

A third source confirmed that no statement was expected on the matter on Wednesday, when tech issues will be on the G7 agenda.

Cybersecurity experts believe Anthropic's Mythos, a model designed to find flaws in computer code, may turbocharge attacks on banks' technology systems, but it has so far not been made available to any European banks. 

Meanwhile, EU is seeking access to Mythos in order to study the model's implications.

The "trusted partners" scheme being discussed at the G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains is a direct response to the U.S. Commerce Department's directive on June 12, 2026, which effectively cut off access to Anthropic’s most advanced AI models (Mythos 5 and Fable 5) for all non-U.S. nationals.