Two Asian AI companies have released models they claim rival Anthropic’s restricted AI products, moving into market space created by a U.S. government export ban that took effect in mid-June 2026.
Tokyo-based Sakana AI launched Fugu on Monday, June 23, 2026, describing the model as one that “stands shoulder-to-shoulder with leading models like Anthropic’s Fable 5 and Mythos Preview.” Two days later, Chinese cybersecurity firm 360 unveiled Tulongfeng, which it says can compete directly with Anthropic’s Mythos — a cybersecurity-focused AI model the Trump Administration has banned from non-American users — along with its more restricted counterpart, Fable 5. The ban has been in place for approximately two weeks.
Sakana AI was co-founded in 2023 by former Google researchers Ren Ito, Llion Jones, and David Ha. The Tokyo company makes generative AI models optimized for the Japanese language and culture, and is targeting Fugu at Japanese businesses and government agencies. Its website advertises “delivering frontier capability without the risk of export controls.” A Sakana spokesperson told TechCrunch the launch timing was “entirely coincidental,” noting the model’s research was presented at ICLR this spring. CEO David Ha described Fugu as designed to orchestrate agent usage across multiple models, writing on X that “access to top models can disappear overnight.”
China’s 360 took a more direct stance. Founder Zhou Hongyi described vulnerability-finding AI as a national strategic asset and warned against what he called “one-way transparency,” where some actors can access advanced vulnerability-detection tools while others cannot. The firm also unveiled Yitianzhen, a tool built to automate cyber defense and incident response. 360 did not respond to a request for comment.
Anthropic reported a run-rate revenue of $47 billion as of May 2026, though how much comes from Asian enterprise customers is not publicly known. With at least two local alternatives now available — trained on local language and context — the ban may be creating openings that could prove difficult to reclaim, even if the export restrictions are eventually lifted.
Source: TechCrunch