NSA Reportedly Gains Access to Anthropic's High-Risk AI Model Mythos
The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) is using Anthropic's recently announced but not publicly available advanced AI model "MythosPreview," raising concerns. Just weeks ago, the NSA's parent organization, the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon), had designated Anthropic as a "supply chain risk" due to the company's refusal to allow the Pentagon unrestricted access to its models' full functionality.
Anthropic released "Mythos" earlier this month, positioning it as a cutting-edge model focused on cybersecurity tasks, but also emphasizing that the model is too powerful in its ability to launch offensive cyberattacks and is therefore not suitable for public release. Due to risk considerations, the company currently only grants access to "Mythos" to approximately 40 institutions, with only about a dozen partners publicly named.
Reports indicate that the NSA is among those on the undisclosed list and is currently primarily using "Mythos" to scan for exploitable security vulnerabilities in various systems and environments. The UK-based AI Security Institute has also confirmed it has access to the model for its own security assessment and research.
Notably, as the U.S. military expands its use of Anthropic's tools, the Pentagon repeatedly emphasizes in court that these tools themselves could jeopardize national security. The dispute originated from Anthropic's refusal to cooperate with the Department of Defense in using its flagship model Claude for large-scale domestic surveillance and the development of autonomous weapon systems.
Concurrently with the NSA's access to "Mythos," the once-strained relationship between Anthropic and the Trump administration appears to be easing. Last Friday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the White House. Sources describe the meeting as "productive."
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