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NSA Using Anthropic’s Mythos Despite Pentagon Blacklist

The leak underscores a split between cyber operators versus defense policy over a powerful dual‑use security tool.

Overview

  • The NSA, which sources told Axios on Sunday had access to Anthropic’s restricted Mythos model, is using it despite the Pentagon’s “supply chain risk” label.
  • Mythos is Anthropic’s most powerful AI to date and is described as strikingly good at computer security tasks such as finding exploitable software flaws.
  • Organizations with access mostly point the model at their own networks to scan for weaknesses that hackers could use to break in.
  • Access remains tightly limited to about 40 vetted groups with only a dozen named publicly, and the U.K.’s AI Security Institute says it also has the model.
  • In February the Defense Department moved to cut off Anthropic and litigation followed, while a Friday White House meeting with CEO Dario Amodei was described as productive and focused on controlled government use outside the Pentagon.