Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu on Saturday, 13 June declared that technology has become the defining instrument of national power, reacting sharply to the US government's export control directive that forced Anthropic to suspend access to its advanced AI models — Fable 5 and Mythos 5 — for all users outside the United States. The move, Vembu argued, is a decisive signal that technological self-reliance is no longer optional for India.

What Triggered the Reaction

Anthropic confirmed that a US government export control directive had ordered it to disable access to its most advanced models — 'Fable 5' and 'Mythos 5' — for foreign nationals, including its own employees working outside the country. The company said it was complying with the directive while simultaneously contending that the order stemmed from a misunderstanding, and that it was working to restore access as soon as possible. Access to Anthropic's other AI models was stated to be unaffected.

Vembu's Warning: Technology as a Geopolitical Weapon

Responding directly to the suspension, Vembu posted on social media platform X: 'This is big: all access to Mythos and Fable AI models disabled for everyone outside America.' He called technology the 'ultimate weapon', arguing that national sovereignty and national security are now inextricably linked to a country's technological capabilities. 'Globalisation is dead and Bharat must find her own way ahead,' he wrote, urging India to treat the episode as a wake-up call.

India's Path Forward: Smaller Models and Homegrown R&D

Vembu urged Indian organisations to pivot toward smaller, open-source AI models — including those developed in India and China — arguing they can be made sufficiently effective with focused effort. 'Why pay money to people who don't even want to sell to you?' he remarked. He also called for deeper investment in research and development, noting that building frontier AI models demands tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars in capital, as well as access to advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) — both of which remain concentrated in a small number of countries and are increasingly subject to export restrictions.

Zoho's Alternative R&D Approach

Vembu pointed to Zoho's own research strategy as a model worth emulating. 'Zoho has been pursuing alternative R&D approaches that are far less expensive,' he said, expressing confidence that sustained innovation and patience would eventually yield competitive results. He acknowledged that matching the capital expenditure of global AI leaders is not realistic for most Indian organisations, but argued that cost-effective, innovative research pathways remain viable. This comes amid a broader global debate over AI access, export controls, and the concentration of frontier model development in a handful of Western and Chinese technology firms.

Broader Implications for India's AI Strategy

The Anthropic directive is notably the first high-profile instance of a leading US AI company being compelled to cut off foreign access to its most capable models on national security grounds. For Indian enterprises and researchers who rely on frontier models for product development, the episode introduces a new category of supply-chain risk. Vembu's comments reflect a growing consensus among Indian technologists that dependence on foreign AI infrastructure carries strategic vulnerability — a concern that is likely to intensify as AI becomes more deeply embedded in critical sectors. The episode is expected to sharpen the policy conversation around India's domestic AI compute capacity and open-source model development.