On Friday, Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) CEO CS Venkatakrishnan warned that a powerful new AI model from Anthropic could significantly heighten cyber risks across the global banking system.
Mythos AI Raises Cybersecurity Concerns
Speaking at a G30 consultancy group meeting during the IMF spring gatherings, Venkatakrishnan described the frontier model, Mythos, as “a serious issue," citing its advanced coding capabilities, Reuters reported.
He said the AI can potentially identify vulnerabilities in financial systems and even suggest ways to exploit them, posing unprecedented risks to banks.
AI Arms Race Looms For Banks
Venkatakrishnan cautioned that Mythos is just the beginning. "There will be a Mythos 2 and a Mythos 3," he said, adding that increasingly powerful systems could emerge rapidly.
"We have to understand its capabilities and we have to understand how to safeguard against it," he added.
Regulators Scramble To Assess Risk
Earlier, ARK Invest highlighted Mythos' standout performance — scoring 93.9% on SWE-bench Verified and 83.1% on CyberGym — as evidence of a significant leap forward in both software engineering and cybersecurity capabilities.
The firm added that it does not see "Project Glasswing" as a threat to established cybersecurity players.
Instead, it believes the initiative could boost demand for real-time protection solutions offered by companies such as CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD), Cloudflare Inc. (NYSE:NET) and Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK).
Anthropic has opted to keep Mythos private, granting access only to key compute and security partners — including Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA).
Global Regulators Race To Assess AI Cyber Risks
Meanwhile, U.K. officials from the Bank of England, HM Treasury and Financial Conduct Authority are in urgent talks with the National Cyber Security Centre to evaluate risks tied to Anthropic's new AI model.
The move follows action in the U.S., where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent convened top Wall Street bank leaders to address similar AI-driven cyber threats.
The U.S. government is now reportedly weighing giving federal agencies access to Anthropic's advanced AI model, Mythos.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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