The Guardian view on Anthropic’s Claude Mythos: when AI finds every flaw, who controls the internet? | Editorial
TL;DR
Tech can scale cyber-attacks and defences alike, raising questions about private power, public risk and the future of a shared internet Anthropic announced its latest AI model, Claude Mythos, this month but said it would not be released publicly, because it turns computers into crime scenes. The company claimed that it could find previously unknown “zero-day” flaws, exploit them and, in principle, link these weaknesses in order to take over major operating systems and web browsers. Mythos did so autonomously, writing code and obtaining privileges. The implications are significant. It’s like a burglar being able to target any building, get inside, unlock every door and empty every safe. The Silicon Valley company has so far named 40 organisations as partners under Project Glasswing to help mount a defence – asking them to “patch” vulnerabilities before hackers get a chance to exploit them.
Nauti's Take
Claude Mythos shows what AI-powered security research can actually achieve — a system that fights attackers at their own level. The risk is real though: capabilities this powerful held by a private company without democratic oversight set a concerning precedent.
Project Glasswing is a start, but 40 partners aren't enough when most of the internet remains exposed.
Summary
Tech can scale cyber-attacks and defences alike, raising questions about private power, public risk and the future of a shared internet Anthropic announced its latest AI model, Claude Mythos, this month but said it would not be released publicly, because it turns computers into crime scenes. The company claimed that it could find previously unknown “zero-day” flaws, exploit them and, in principle, link these weaknesses in order to take over major operating systems and web browsers.
Mythos did so autonomously, writing code and obtaining privileges. The implications are significant.
It’s like a burglar being able to target any building, get inside, unlock every door and empty every safe. The Silicon Valley company has so far named 40 organisations as partners under Project Glasswing to help mount a defence – asking them to “patch” vulnerabilities before hackers get a chance to exploit them
Sources