UK BANKS IN TALKS WITH ANTHROPIC OVER MYTHOS AI

British banks including Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest are currently in discussions with Anthropic regarding access to their advanced artificial intelligence model, known as Mythos. This development has raised significant concerns about potential cyber threats to the UK’s financial system.

Anthropic, a San Francisco-based company, recently made headlines by revealing its creation of Mythos, a model capable of effectively hacking into systems. This has prompted warnings from high-ranking officials in the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve about the possible implications for financial institutions. Notably, these concerns were shared during a recent meeting with Wall Street bankers.

Some American firms, including JPMorgan Chase, have been granted permission to use Mythos to fortify their cyber defence mechanisms. Speculation suggests that British banks may soon be permitted to conduct similar tests, although these discussions are still in preliminary stages.

The Bank of England and UK Finance have created the Cross Market Operational Resilience Group, set to meet next week to discuss Mythos further. Notably, the Bank itself does not have direct access to Mythos but has been liaising with the government’s AI Security Institute, which has already conducted tests on the model. These assessments have indicated that Mythos can exploit systems with weak security but have not definitively determined its effectiveness against well-defended systems.

Concerns about the capabilities of Mythos have also been shared by Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, who indicated the potential risks associated with the model could disrupt the cybersecurity landscape significantly. Some financial analysts suggest that fears surrounding Mythos could be overstated, amid growing curiosity about how its capabilities may soon be employed by UK lenders.

While expectations surrounding UK banks testing Mythos surfaced earlier in the week, a representative from Anthropic clarified that these timelines may not be as imminent as anticipated.