Semafor World Economy event

Could China develop a Mythos competitor?

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Semafor
Cybersecurity concerns about Anthropic’s new model Mythos raised a pressing question for policymakers and executives: Could China develop similar technology in the near future? The answer is yes, if you ask Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark. Within a year and a half, “there’ll be open-source models from China that have these capabilities,” Clark said at Semafor World Economy this week. White House cyber director Sean Cairncross agreed, telling Semafor that “it would be irresponsible” for the US “to assume that that wouldn’t be the case.” After raising concerns with Wall Street bankers about Mythos’ ability to detect cyber vulnerabilities missed by humans, the Treasury Department is now trying to get access to the model to search for weaknesses ahead of any wider release. Separately, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is set to meet with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles today, Axios reported, a possible breakthrough in the firm’s ongoing feud with the Pentagon.