Chinese AI systems "have matched the performance of Anthropic's powerful model Mythos in some cybersecurity scenarios," [1]reports the Wall Street Journal .

They call it "a development poised to reset the global tech race and pressure the White House in its overhaul of U.S. [2]AI policy ."

> Security researchers said that a new AI model, released this month by China's Zhipu AI, also known as Z.ai, can match the latest U.S. models when it comes to finding security bugs, although it still lags behind Anthropic's and OpenAI's products in other tasks. Overall, the capability gap between top U.S. models and those built by Chinese companies has narrowed significantly, and use of Chinese AI systems has surged as businesses seek to rein in runaway costs. A host of companies, including Microsoft, are weighing how they can offer [3]Chinese models on their platforms, a development that is set to alter the balance of power among tech companies...

>

> Unlike models from Anthropic or OpenAI, Zhipu's GLM-5.2 is [4]open-weight . That means it can be downloaded and run on hardware operated by anybody and can be modified and used without supervision. Open-weight models are ideal for users who want unfettered access to systems they control, but they are also ideal for hackers, who can run them in the shadows. GLM-5.2 has ranked as one of the 10 most-used AI models, according to data from OpenRouter, a company that provides access to more than 400 AI models. In some benchmarking tests, according to the cybersecurity company Semgrep, GLM-5.2 bested Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 model, which was released in May. When given further instructions, Opus 4.8 and GLM-5.2 can match Mythos in bug-finding ability, according to researchers...

>

> "Banning Fable while selling chips China needs to develop its own version is a gift to China," said Saif Khan, a distinguished technology fellow at the Institute for Progress think tank who worked on export restrictions in the Biden administration. The U.S. needs to maximize the use of Mythos and comparable models to harden its cyber defenses while it can, he added. Among the Mythos 5 and Fable 5 users that had lost access before Friday's decision to restore Mythos 5 access for some trusted entities: the National Security Agency, which had been testing the tools and found them impressive in trials, according to people familiar with the matter... "It is incentivizing companies across the globe to use cheaper but very capable Chinese open-weight models, while at the same time undermining the U.S. AI industry," said Niels Provos, a researcher who led security teams at Google and Stripe. "I don't understand it."

Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader [5]schwit1 for sharing the article.



[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/artificial-intelligence/china-has-matched-anthropic-in-cybersecurity-resetting-ai-race/ar-AA26I0hA

[2] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/trump-ai-anthropic-mythos-regulation-2378971f?

[3] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsofts-satya-nadella-we-cant-let-ai-giants-eat-the-economy-b9d33b9f

[4] https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/chinas-lead-in-open-source-ai-jolts-washington-and-silicon-valley-ffdec83b

[5] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1