Anthropic’s Mythos Leads Global Bank Regulators to Call For Increased Vigilance

Financial regulators continue to voice unease about potential cyberthreats from Anthropic’s Mythos artificial intelligence (AI) model.

The latest concerns come from the Asia-Pacific region, Reuters reported Monday (April 20), where regulators said they were tracking the development and potential implications of Mythos.

Anthropic said earlier this month that Mythos had uncovered thousands of high-severity vulnerabilities, including flaws in major operating systems and web browsers. Initially, the startup limited access to about 40 companies, including Amazon, Apple and J.P. Morgan Chase, so they can experiment with the model and address weaknesses in their systems.

As Reuters noted, the model’s capabilities for high-level coding could grant it a potentially unprecedented ability to spot cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

A spokesperson for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) told Reuters that it was closely monitoring the use of Mythos along with other regulators to determine possible implications for the Australian market.

“ASIC engages closely with other regulators, government agencies and the financial sector to understand and respond to changing technologies,” the spokesperson said.

The commission added that it expects financial services licensees to “be on the front foot” to protect customers and clients.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), which regulates the country’s banks, said it would “continue to assess the implications of these technological advancements to ensure the ongoing safety and resilience of the financial system.”

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it met with information security officials from financial companies last week to discuss Mythos-related risks.

Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said advances in AI could accelerate the discovery and exploitation of software vulnerabilities in information technology systems.

“Financial institutions need to redouble efforts to strengthen their security defences, proactively identify and close vulnerabilities, and raise vigilance on cyber hygiene, including timely security patching,” it said.

MAS added that it was coordinating with the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore to protect critical infrastructure operators.

These statements follow similar warnings in Europe, Great Britain and the U.S., where the Treasury Department has sought access to Mythos.

As PYMNTS wrote last week, statements such as these show the “split-screen reality” around Anthropic in the wake of Mythos’ release.

“The company is gaining traction fast in the enterprise market even as regulators and banks scramble to understand the risks that come with more powerful AI tools,” that report said.