AI is minting billion-dollar companies faster than before

Welcome to Eye on AI. AI reporter Beatrice Nolan here. In today’s issue: AI is reshaping who builds, and how fast. The U.S. government allows the limited release of Anthropic’s Mythos model. AI isn’t killing jobs—yet. And California cuts a deal with Anthropic—despite tensions in DC. The big news from the weekend is that Anthropic’s Mythos AI model is back—but only for a few. On Friday, the Trump administration lifted its two-week block on Anthropic’s Mythos 5 model, clearing it for release to more than 100 U.S. institutions, including major companies and government agencies. Fable 5, the public-facing version of the same model family, remains blocked, with talks over its reinstatement ongoing. Also on Friday, OpenAI got the Anthropic treatment (well, sort of, anyway) over its newest model. The Trump administration asked OpenAI to limit the release of its GPT-5.6 lineup—comprising three models, Sol, Terra, and Luna—to a small group of government-approved partners, citing the models’ advanced cybersecurity capabilities. OpenAI complied while making clear it does not believe “this kind of government access process should become the long-term default.” We have the full rundown of the news from this week below, but first: AI is fundamentally reshaping who builds billion-dollar companies, and how fast. AI is accelerating how quickly companies reach unicorn status The scale of the AI funding boom has been producing numbers that would have seemed fictional five years ago. Last month, Anthropic, founded in 2021, became the most valuable private company in history after it raised $65 billion at a $965 billion valuation in May, overtaking OpenAI, which had itself closed a $122 billion round at $852 billion just weeks earlier. New analysis from venture capital firm Accel, produced in partnership with Dealroom and Revelio Labs and shared with Fortune exclusively, shows that Europe is seeing the same unprecedented speed play out at the st