NSA said to be readying Anthropic’s Mythos for use in cyber operations

Anthropic has assigned approximately six engineers to the National Security Agency (NSA) to assist in the integration of its advanced cybersecurity AI model, known as Mythos, according to a report by The Financial Times, which cites unnamed sources. These engineers are reportedly focused on enabling the intelligence agency to utilize Mythos for specific applications. However, the extent to which they are involved in active hacking operations remains unclear. The NSA's responsibilities include gathering intelligence through various means such as wiretaps, undersea cables, and corporate partnerships, alongside executing offensive cyber operations against foreign threats. This comes after Axios reported in April that the NSA had begun utilizing Mythos despite a federal prohibition on the use of Anthropic's technology. This ban was imposed by the Department of Defense, which labeled Anthropic as a “supply chain risk” due to its refusal to allow government access to its models for mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weaponry. The urgency for governments to access Mythos is growing, as Anthropic has limited its availability out of concern that its cybersecurity features could be misused to identify vulnerabilities and conduct cyberattacks. When approached for comment, a spokesperson for the NSA refrained from confirming or denying this information, while Anthropic did not respond to inquiries from TechCrunch.