Powell, Bessent Convene Bank CEOs Over Anthropic's Mythos AI Cyber Threat

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met with major U.S. bank CEOs this week to discuss potential cyber risks posed by Anthropic's newly released Mythos model, CNBC confirmed Friday.

The bank heads were already in Washington, D.C., for scheduled meetings when a special gathering was called specifically to address Mythos cyber concerns, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Limited Rollout Over Security Concerns

Anthropics rolled out Mythos earlier this week in limited capacity due to concerns that hackers could exploit the model's capabilities. The company has not disclosed specific technical specifications of Mythos or the nature of the exploitable vulnerabilities.

Anthropic did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the meeting or the security concerns.

What This Means

The rapid convening of federal financial regulators with bank leadership signals that U.S. authorities view Mythos as posing material cybersecurity risks to the financial system. The limited rollout and immediate high-level policy response suggest either novel attack vectors or capabilities that could amplify existing threats. This marks one of the first instances where an AI model release has triggered direct intervention from the Fed and Treasury—indicating the model's potential impact warrants regulatory attention before broader deployment.

The development also reflects growing scrutiny of advanced AI capabilities and their misuse potential, particularly within systemically important financial institutions.