Finance ministers, central bankers, and financiers have expressed serious concerns about a powerful new AI model they fear could undermine the security of financial systems.
The development of the Claude Mythos model by Anthropic has led to crisis meetings, after it found vulnerabilities in many major operating systems.
Experts say it potentially has an unprecedented ability to identify and exploit cyber-security weaknesses - though others caution further testing is needed to properly understand its capabilities.
Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne told the BBC that Mythos had been discussed extensively at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington DC this week.
Certainly it is serious enough to warrant the attention of all the finance ministers, he said.
The difference is that the Strait of Hormuz - we know where it is and we know how large it is... the issue that we're facing with Anthropic is that it's the unknown, unknown.
He added this is requiring a lot of attention to ensure that safeguards and processes are in place to maintain the resiliency of financial systems.
What is Claude Mythos?
Mythos is one of Anthropic's latest models developed as part of its broader AI system called Claude, a rival to OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.
It was revealed by Anthropic earlier this month, when developers responsible for testing AI models said it was strikingly capable at computer security tasks.
Due to concerns about its potential capability to surface old software bugs or exploit system vulnerabilities, Anthropic has not released the model widely. Instead, it has made Mythos available to tech giants like Amazon Web Services, CrowdStrike, Microsoft, and Nvidia as part of an initiative called Project Glasswing, aimed at enhancing software security.
On Thursday, Anthropic released a new version of an existing model, Claude Opus, allowing for tests of Mythos' cyber capabilities in lower-power environments.
While concerns around Mythos exceed discussions surrounding previous models, some cybersecurity experts argue that the heightened worry might be unwarranted given the lack of broader testing.
The UK's AI Security Institute recently reviewed a preview version of Mythos, noting its ability to identify various security vulnerabilities but suggesting it is not significantly better than previous models.
As the US Treasury has also pressed major banks to fortify their own systems in anticipation of Mythos's unveiling, the implications of this AI model highlight the evolving intersection of technology and finance.
