Financial regulators in the United Kingdom are holding urgent discussions with a government cybersecurity agency and major banks. The parties are assessing the risks associated with Anthropic’s new AI model, reports FT.
Representatives from the Bank of England, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Treasury are in talks with the National Cyber Security Centre. Together, they plan to examine potential vulnerabilities in critical IT systems that the neural network has identified.
The publication notes that in the next two weeks, major financial institutions, insurance companies, and exchanges will receive information on cybersecurity risks related to Claude Mythos.
AI-Induced Fears
The new neural network proved so powerful that its creators decided against a public release. Instead, Project Glasswing was launched—a controlled environment testing initiative involving AWS, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Linux Foundation, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Palo Alto Networks.
Concerns arose because, in just a few weeks, Mythos discovered thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities in major operating systems and web browsers.
The scale of the potential threat prompted U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to convene an emergency meeting with Wall Street leaders. Officials warned top executives, including Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, that the launch of Mythos marks a new era in cybersecurity.
The Bank of Canada and the country’s major financial institutions also held a meeting to “assess systemic risks associated with the emergence of such an advanced AI model.” The initiative aims to “enhance the operational resilience of the country’s critical financial sector.”
Hype Inflation?
TechCrunch noted that limiting access to Mythos might be a marketing strategy to draw attention to the new AI model.
In March, Dan Lahav, head of the AI startup Irregular, emphasized that while automated vulnerability detection plays an important role, the real benefit of a discovered breach for hackers depends on many factors.
Anthropic claims that Mythos can exploit breaches much more broadly compared to Opus. However, it remains unclear whether this LLM is indeed the ideal solution for cybersecurity.
Startup Aisle reported that it was able to replicate most of Mythos’s achievements using other neural networks. According to the firm’s representatives, there is no single model for cybersecurity—the choice of tool always depends on the specific task.
One reason leading AI labs may intentionally limit releases is the opportunity to secure exclusive contracts with large enterprises, while simultaneously making it difficult for competitors to copy tools through distillation.
“It’s a marketing ploy designed to hide the fact that top models are now only available through corporate agreements and are no longer provided to smaller labs for testing,” noted exe.dev CEO David Crawshaw.
He added that when Mythos becomes available to all, a new advanced LLM will emerge on the market exclusively for corporate clients. This approach allows for a steady flow of funds and limits companies engaged in algorithm distillation.
Anthropic at the Forefront
In recent months, the startup Anthropic has significantly expanded its audience. The company’s solutions are in high demand, and revenue is growing exponentially.
TechCrunch journalists reported that at the recent HumanX AI conference in San Francisco, thousands of AI specialists discussed the technology’s capabilities, with Claude frequently mentioned as one of the best products on the market.
Anthropic was mentioned in many panel sessions. Meanwhile, ChatGPT was hardly discussed. One expert noted that OpenAI “has fallen out of the game.”
Many conference participants emphasized that Sam Altman’s company has lost a clear development direction. Fuel was added to the fire by a recent article about the startup’s head—describing him as a dictator and deceiver who abandoned the original noble mission.
Too Soon to Count Out OpenAI
A recent analysis of the financial performance of OpenAI and Anthropic revealed that both companies are “the fastest-growing enterprises in history.”
In this context, the “fall” of Altman’s brainchild merely indicates that it is no longer the undisputed leader. The firm has gained competitors—this is normal for most industries, noted TechCrunch.
OpenAI clearly does not intend to lose its dominant position. The company announced a new $100 subscription plan that provides broader access to the programming tool Codex.
In April, Anthropic released an environment for running complex and long-term agent tasks—Claude Managed Agents.