App to Notify the Return of Fable 5

by Rian

I thought I’d share some light-hearted news before I can drop the pessimistic read on the tech sector as a whole. Anthropic hasn’t yet shared any update on when the US government’s suspension of Fable 5 will be lifted, but there are communities voicing support for the repeal of the ban, while sharing memes around its status.

Is Fable 5 available? is a website that dedicates its existence to the memetic status of Fable. The ostensible feature is subscribing to a mailing list to be notified when Fable 5 finally returns. But besides that, the site is full of easter eggs and a cute “No” invaders game. It’s reached a point where the memes around the ban itself have accumulated into a polished, modernistic website.

I didn’t write a full-blown review of Fable 5, as I’ve previously discussed, partly because it was a limited-time offering, but partly because of the suspension itself. During the 3 days I had access, I was able to run much more complex tasks and projects with Fable than I did with Opus.

As it stands, in every single project I do, I keep a file of ‘conventions’: how the styling should go, what modules to import or write myself. Things that would belong in a style guide. Opus, even on the highest effort setting, just chugs through tokens instead of writing code or offering ideas in line with the conventions I set. These are “complex” in their boundaries, not complicated in their logic. But Fable was able to do it. That sums up my experience.

On the other side of the coin, the US government has created a dangerous precedent against the AI sector as a whole. The old gatekeeping formula no longer works; these AI companies operate internationally, and they hire employees all around the world. So many would play Apple’s playbook on ‘how to play safe (feat. EU)’. Don’t release it. Run it by legal. Talk to bureaucrats and politicians. Release it only after public outcry has gained traction. And not just the companies — the developers who want to use it have to play the circus too.