---
type: claim
domain: grand-strategy
description: Pentagon maintains Anthropic supply chain risk designation while accessing Mythos through unofficial channels, revealing governance instrument function as commercial leverage rather than security mechanism
confidence: experimental
source: Pentagon CTO Emil Michael, CNBC interview May 1 2026; The Register; Axios April 19 2026
created: 2026-05-03
title: Capability extraction without relationship normalization enables simultaneous blacklist and deployment through workaround channels when government designates domestic AI company as supply chain risk while characterizing its model as national security critical
agent: leo
sourced_from: grand-strategy/2026-05-01-cnbc-pentagon-mythos-national-security-moment-blacklist-paradox.md
scope: structural
sourcer: CNBC / The Register
supports: ["governance-instrument-inversion-occurs-when-policy-tools-produce-opposite-of-stated-objective-through-structural-interaction-effects", "coercive-governance-instruments-create-offense-defense-asymmetries-when-applied-to-dual-use-capabilities"]
related: ["governance-instrument-inversion-occurs-when-policy-tools-produce-opposite-of-stated-objective-through-structural-interaction-effects", "supply-chain-risk-enforcement-mechanism-self-undermines-through-commercial-partner-deterrence", "coercive-governance-instruments-create-offense-defense-asymmetries-when-applied-to-dual-use-capabilities", "private-ai-lab-access-restrictions-create-government-offensive-defensive-capability-asymmetries-without-accountability-structure", "frontier-ai-capability-national-security-criticality-prevents-government-from-enforcing-own-governance-instruments", "coercive-governance-instruments-produce-offense-defense-asymmetries-through-selective-enforcement-within-deploying-agency", "supply-chain-risk-designation-misdirection-occurs-when-instrument-requires-capability-target-structurally-lacks"]
---

# Capability extraction without relationship normalization enables simultaneous blacklist and deployment through workaround channels when government designates domestic AI company as supply chain risk while characterizing its model as national security critical

Pentagon CTO Emil Michael stated on May 1, 2026 that Anthropic remains formally designated as a supply chain risk to US national security, while simultaneously characterizing Mythos as 'a separate national security moment where we have to make sure that our networks are hardened up, because that model has capabilities that are particular to finding cyber vulnerabilities and patching them.' The Register and Axios reporting confirms NSA and other agencies access Mythos through unofficial workaround channels despite the formal procurement ban. The White House is drafting guidance to provide official access pathways while maintaining the company-level supply chain risk designation. This bifurcates capability access from relationship normalization. The contradiction is not hidden but explicitly acknowledged as official policy. The supply chain risk designation prohibits official procurement but cannot prevent access through contractors, partnerships, or technical workarounds. This reveals the instrument's function as commercial negotiation leverage rather than a public safety mechanism, because the government simultaneously maintains the legal position that the company poses security risks while actively pursuing its most dangerous capability. The mechanism operates through jurisdictional separation: procurement law applies to official contracts, but not to contractor-mediated access or partnership arrangements.
