level: business
anthropic had a record month in may, with its share of business ai subscriptions reaching 41%, up 2.5 points, according to ramp data from over 70,000 companies. this edged out openai, which held 39.5%. the growth came after the trump administration labeled anthropic a supply-chain risk in march, a move that seemed to boost its business adoption.
the latest clash began when the white house demanded anthropic ban non-americans from accessing its new models, mythos 5 and fable 5, citing export controls. the company pulled both models from the market. mythos 5 was known for finding software vulnerabilities, and fable 5's guardrails were reportedly bypassed by hackers. despite the restrictions, ramp's lead economist suggested the controversy could further increase anthropic's appeal, as being deemed too dangerous added to its reputation.
ramp's data shows businesses heavily use anthropic's opus models, especially the recent opus 4.8, which remain available. most spending goes to api calls for tasks like coding, where anthropic's claude code is well-regarded. while the financial impact of pulling the new models is unclear, the company's existing models are more popular than ever, even as it prepares for an ipo after a profitable quarter and a $65 billion funding round.
why it matters: government restrictions on ai models can paradoxically increase business demand, affecting market dynamics and adoption trends.