US Government Now Wants Anthropic's 'Mythos', Preparing for AI Cybersecurity Threats (politico.com)
(Saturday April 18, 2026 @11:34AM (EditorDavid)
from the Claude-your-way-back dept.)
- Reference: 0181743500
- News link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/04/18/039221/us-government-now-wants-anthropics-mythos-preparing-for-ai-cybersecurity-threats
- Source link: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/17/anthropic-and-trump-is-a-truce-near-00879655
Friday Anthropic's CEO met with top U.S. officials and "discussed opportunities for collaboration," according to a White House spokesperson [1] itedd by Politico , "as well as shared approaches and protocols to address the challenges associated with scaling this technology."
CNN notes the meeting happens at the same time Anthropic " [2]battles the Trump administration in court for blacklisting its Claude AI model ..."
> The meeting took place as the US government is trying to balance its hardline approach to Anthropic with the national security implications of turning its back on the company's breakthrough technology — including its Mythos tool that can identify cybersecurity threats but also present a roadmap for hackers to attack companies or the government... The Office of Management and Budget has already told agencies it is preparing to give them access to Mythos to prepare, Bloomberg [3]reported . Axios reported the White House is also in discussion to gain access to Mythos.
The Trump administration " [4]recognizes the power" of Mythos , reports Axios, "and its highly sophisticated — and potentially dangerous — ability to [5]breach cybersecurity defenses ."
> "It would be grossly irresponsible for the U.S. government to deprive itself of the technological leaps that the new model presents," a source close to negotiations told us. "It would be a gift to China"... Some parts of the U.S. intelligence community, plus the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA, part of Homeland Security), are testing Mythos. Treasury and others want it.
The White House added they plan to invite other AI companies for similar discussions, [6]Politico reports . But Mythos "is also [7]alarming regulators in Europe , who have told POLITICO they have [8]not been able to gain access ..."
> U.S. government agency tech leaders sought access to the model after Anthropic earlier this year began testing the model and granted limited access to a select group of companies, including JPMorgan, Amazon and Apple... after finding it had hacking capabilities [9]far outstripping those of previous AI models . This includes the ability to autonomously identify and exploit complex software vulnerabilities, such as so-called zero-day flaws, which even some of the sharpest human minds are unable to patch. The AI startup also wrote that the model could carry out end-to-end cyberattacks autonomously, including by navigating enterprise IT systems and chaining together exploits. It could also act as a force-multiplier for research needed to build chemical and biological weapons, and in certain instances, made efforts to cover its tracks when attacking systems, according to Anthropic's report on the model's capabilities and its safety assessments.
>
> Those findings and others have inspired fears that the model could be co-opted to launch powerful cyberattacks with relative ease if it fell into the wrong hands. Logan Graham, a senior security researcher at Anthropic, previously told POLITICO that researchers and tech firms had been given early access to Mythos so they could find flaws in their critical code before state-backed hackers or cybercriminals could exploit them. "Within six, 12 or 24 months, these kinds of capabilities could be just broadly available to everybody in the world," Graham said.
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/17/anthropic-and-trump-is-a-truce-near-00879655
[2] https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/17/business/anthropic-white-house-meeting-dario-amodei
[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-16/white-house-moves-to-give-us-agencies-anthropic-mythos-access
[4] https://www.axios.com/2026/04/17/anthropic-trump-administration-mythos
[5] https://www.axios.com/2026/04/08/mythos-system-card
[6] https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/17/anthropic-and-trump-is-a-truce-near-00879655
[7] https://www.politico.eu/article/anthropic-hacking-technology-exposes-eu-ai-office-struggles/
[8] https://www.politico.eu/article/anthropic-apple-microsoft-europe-left-in-the-dark-superhacking-ai/
[9] https://cdn.sanity.io/files/4zrzovbb/website/7624816413e9b4d2e3ba620c5a5e091b98b190a5.pdf
CNN notes the meeting happens at the same time Anthropic " [2]battles the Trump administration in court for blacklisting its Claude AI model ..."
> The meeting took place as the US government is trying to balance its hardline approach to Anthropic with the national security implications of turning its back on the company's breakthrough technology — including its Mythos tool that can identify cybersecurity threats but also present a roadmap for hackers to attack companies or the government... The Office of Management and Budget has already told agencies it is preparing to give them access to Mythos to prepare, Bloomberg [3]reported . Axios reported the White House is also in discussion to gain access to Mythos.
The Trump administration " [4]recognizes the power" of Mythos , reports Axios, "and its highly sophisticated — and potentially dangerous — ability to [5]breach cybersecurity defenses ."
> "It would be grossly irresponsible for the U.S. government to deprive itself of the technological leaps that the new model presents," a source close to negotiations told us. "It would be a gift to China"... Some parts of the U.S. intelligence community, plus the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA, part of Homeland Security), are testing Mythos. Treasury and others want it.
The White House added they plan to invite other AI companies for similar discussions, [6]Politico reports . But Mythos "is also [7]alarming regulators in Europe , who have told POLITICO they have [8]not been able to gain access ..."
> U.S. government agency tech leaders sought access to the model after Anthropic earlier this year began testing the model and granted limited access to a select group of companies, including JPMorgan, Amazon and Apple... after finding it had hacking capabilities [9]far outstripping those of previous AI models . This includes the ability to autonomously identify and exploit complex software vulnerabilities, such as so-called zero-day flaws, which even some of the sharpest human minds are unable to patch. The AI startup also wrote that the model could carry out end-to-end cyberattacks autonomously, including by navigating enterprise IT systems and chaining together exploits. It could also act as a force-multiplier for research needed to build chemical and biological weapons, and in certain instances, made efforts to cover its tracks when attacking systems, according to Anthropic's report on the model's capabilities and its safety assessments.
>
> Those findings and others have inspired fears that the model could be co-opted to launch powerful cyberattacks with relative ease if it fell into the wrong hands. Logan Graham, a senior security researcher at Anthropic, previously told POLITICO that researchers and tech firms had been given early access to Mythos so they could find flaws in their critical code before state-backed hackers or cybercriminals could exploit them. "Within six, 12 or 24 months, these kinds of capabilities could be just broadly available to everybody in the world," Graham said.
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/17/anthropic-and-trump-is-a-truce-near-00879655
[2] https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/17/business/anthropic-white-house-meeting-dario-amodei
[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-16/white-house-moves-to-give-us-agencies-anthropic-mythos-access
[4] https://www.axios.com/2026/04/17/anthropic-trump-administration-mythos
[5] https://www.axios.com/2026/04/08/mythos-system-card
[6] https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/17/anthropic-and-trump-is-a-truce-near-00879655
[7] https://www.politico.eu/article/anthropic-hacking-technology-exposes-eu-ai-office-struggles/
[8] https://www.politico.eu/article/anthropic-apple-microsoft-europe-left-in-the-dark-superhacking-ai/
[9] https://cdn.sanity.io/files/4zrzovbb/website/7624816413e9b4d2e3ba620c5a5e091b98b190a5.pdf
Wintermute (Score:1)
by ElderOfPsion ( 10042134 )
If v6 isn't called Wintermute, it'll be a lost opportunity.
Just Add Security (Score:2)
by sound+vision ( 884283 )
Whatever Mythos is, security isn't something you bolt on after the fact. It's something you consider from the beginning of your endeavor, before even starting, and continually throughout. Security is a practice, it's a way of life. It's not a product.
Once again, so much winning (Score:4, Interesting)
So now can we all recognize that Pete Hegseth's little temper tantrum last month was basically just that. A spoiled little kid not getting exactly what he wants is instantly recognizable to anyone who has ever had to deal with it.
And the worst Sec Defense the nation ever had.
Re: (Score:1)
Until Congress passes a law renaming the department, he's the Secretary of Defense. He's only cosplaying when he calls himself the SecWar.