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Anthropic gates Mythos to block AI attacks

Sunday, April 26, 2026 · from 4 podcasts
4 SOURCESEzra Klein ShowBreaking PointsLenny's PodcastThe Economist
  • Anthropic restricts access to Mythos, its most powerful AI, to prevent automated attacks on power grids and banks.
  • A leak to hackers proves containment failed - governments compare the threat to a Strait of Hormuz blockade.
  • No agency regulates such models, leaving global infrastructure exposed to uncontrolled AI exploitation.

Anthropic is not releasing its most powerful AI. The model, codenamed Mythos, can find 27-year-old bugs in OpenBSD and map attack paths through core financial and energy systems. Dario Amodei’s team isn’t selling it. They’re rationing it to just 11 systemically important firms - Apple, JP Morgan, Microsoft - and the UK government.

The containment strategy failed. According to Saagar Enjeti on Breaking Points, a hacker collective on Discord now has access to the model. That breach turns Anthropic’s safety-first posture into a cautionary tale: one server crack can unleash AI-driven cyberattacks at industrial scale.

"The Bank of England has already warned that Mythos could crack the entire cyber risk world open."

- Saagar Enjeti, Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar

Alex Hearn on The Intelligence argues the gatekeeping serves more than safety. It masks a compute crunch and blocks Chinese rivals from cloning the model’s outputs. But the deeper shift is structural: AI has moved from writing code to finding zero-days at superhuman speed. If Mythos can dismantle OpenBSD, it can dismantle JPMorgan’s firewall.

Governments are unprepared. Canada’s finance minister likened the threat to a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz - same strategic impact, no military action required. Yet no agency regulates AI models that can collapse critical infrastructure. Medical drugs face years of trials. AI tools face a startup CEO’s judgment.

"We are betting the stability of the global financial system on the server security of a single company."

- Krystal Ball, Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar

Cat Wu, Head of Product for Claude Code, says Anthropic ships features in 24-hour sprints. But when the feature is a model that can automate systemic attacks, speed becomes a liability. The leak proves that even the most safety-obsessed lab can’t secure what it chooses to build. The question isn’t whether Mythos should be released. It’s whether anyone should have been allowed to build it.

AgentsSafetyRegulation
Dario AmodeiAnthropicWorldcoinClaude CodeCanadaClaudeStrait of Hormuz

Source Intelligence

- Deep dive into what was said in the episodes

The Ezra Klein Show
The Ezra Klein Show

Stewart Brand, Silicon Valley’s Favorite Prophet, on Life’s Most Important Principle • Apr 24

  • Ezra Klein announced a forum on California housing affordability, co-hosted by The New York Times, Housing Action Coalition, and other organizations on Friday, May 8th.
  • Stewart Brand argues that true ownership extends beyond legal possession to include the knowledge of how an item functions, how to diagnose problems, and how to fix it, making maintenance an act of "taking ownership."
  • Ezra Klein notes the irony of OpenAI's dedication to the *Whole Earth Catalog* while its AI creators admit they don't understand their systems. Brand concurs that AI is creating "alien intelligences" that will change human identity.
  • Brand supports right-to-repair legislation, noting its progress in states like Massachusetts and Colorado. He highlights John Deere as a "poster child" for corporate resistance that necessitates government intervention.
Also from this episode: (9)

History (3)

  • Ezra Klein identifies Stewart Brand as a pivotal thinker for the internet's culture and Silicon Valley's early idealistic ethos, influencing events from 1960s counterculture to early online communities.
  • Steve Jobs described Brand's *Whole Earth Catalog* (late 1960s) as "Google in paperback form 35 years before Google," made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras, inspiring the internet's development.
  • Stewart Brand describes the 1960s "Back to the Land" communes as college students attempting to reinvent civilization, though all efforts ultimately failed. He highlights lessons learned like the practical costs of "free love" and the boredom of isolated rural life.

Media (1)

  • Brand explains the *Whole Earth Catalog* was a large, folio-sized publication filled with practical knowledge (e.g., beekeeping, candle making) that conferred "agency" on users, much like YouTube does today.

Psychology (1)

  • Brand recounts a minor psychedelic experience ($20/month North Beach apartment) that inspired his campaign for NASA to release a full photograph of Earth, believing it would be transformative.

Biology (1)

  • Stewart Brand, a biologist by training, defines maintenance as "to keep things going," illustrating its pervasive role in all living systems, from biological functions to human civilization and planetary stewardship.

Digital Sovereignty (3)

  • Stewart Brand contrasts the 1908 Ford Model T, designed for owner repair and modification, with the Rolls-Royce, requiring factory service due to its precise parts. Ezra Klein links this to early tech's "hacker" ethos versus modern proprietary systems.
  • Brand observes that online resources like YouTube and iFixit have replaced traditional manuals, empowering individuals with accessible, visual guides for repairing specific devices and fostering agency.
  • Brand credits the internet for surpassing dreams in communication and information access (Wikipedia, Internet Archive), but acknowledges it also introduced problems like "flame wars," rudeness, and privacy concerns.
PhilosophySocietyRegulationAI Infrastructure
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar
Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar

4/23/26: Global Alarms Over New AI, Kalshi Insider Trading, Tucker Apologizes For Trump Support • Apr 23

  • Saagar explains Anthropic's Mythos AI model can identify and exploit vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure like banks and power grids, raising concerns about its potential for misuse.
  • Anthropic decided not to widely release its powerful Mythos model, sharing it only with eleven US organizations and Britain, triggering global alarm over potential security risks.
  • The Bank of England governor warned Mythos could "crack the whole cyber risk world open," while Canada's finance minister compared its threat to closing the Strait of Hormuz.
  • Saagar notes Bloomberg reported Mythos was accessed by an unauthorized Discord hacker collective, highlighting concerns about the model's security despite Anthropic's precautions.
  • Krystal rejects the idea that AI companies exaggerate dangers for marketing, pointing to global alarms from banks and intelligence agencies as proof of genuine concern.
  • Krystal argues that powerful AI models, unlike medical drugs, lack federal scrutiny, contrasting the rigorous approval process for pharmaceuticals with the hands-off approach to AI development.
  • Krystal advocates for a presidential advisory body to establish transparent review standards for powerful AI models, arguing against developers solely determining their safety for global impact.
  • Saagar recognizes Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's credibility for prioritizing AI safety, noting his refusal of Pentagon demands and the company's research into model vulnerabilities.
  • Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wilds to discuss AI, including Mythos, even though the Trump administration blacklisted Anthropic's Claude AI model.
  • Saagar warns a major cyber incident impacting digitally-reliant banking systems could destabilize the global financial system and erode public trust in monetary security.
  • Krystal emphasizes that AI's ability to perfectly spoof voices will escalate existing spam call and text issues, making individuals, especially public figures, vulnerable to sophisticated financial scams.
  • Saagar describes how a person used a hairdryer to manipulate a Paris airport weather sensor on Polymarket, winning $34,000 by artificially raising the temperature to 22 degrees Celsius twice.
  • Krystal challenges the "societal utilitarian benefit" of prediction markets like Kalshi, asserting they primarily enable speculative betting without offering broader public utility.
  • Krystal criticizes the Trump administration's removal of the $25,000 cash limit for day traders, citing empirical data that most retail traders are financially "wiped out" within two to three months.
  • Krystal notes the $25,000 day trading limit was implemented after the 1990s dot-com crash, when numerous retail investors lost savings, underscoring the purpose of consumer protection rules.
  • Krystal contends that the "democratization of finance" offered by platforms like Robinhood and Kalshi primarily enriches the companies through transaction fees, while most individual consumers lose money.
  • Saagar asserts that human psychological vulnerabilities, particularly the "get rich quick" desire, are easily exploited by addictive platforms, underscoring the need for consumer protection.
  • Mark Moran claimed he intentionally bet $100 on himself on Kalshi to expose corruption and insider trading on prediction markets, citing potential manipulation on Polymarket's New York City mayoral race.
  • Krystal asserts Kalshi's slow detection of Mark Moran's insider trading shows enforcement challenges, particularly in monitoring related parties like consultants or family members.
  • Jacob Wasserman clarifies TMZ pays for photos and videos, akin to other news outlets using Getty images, but emphasizes they do not pay for information, relying on reporting and FOIA requests.
Also from this episode: (7)

Society (1)

  • Krystal observes that societal impacts of technology, like the iPhone's widespread adoption taking four years until 2011, suggest AI's full effects will also unfold over time.

Digital Sovereignty (1)

  • Krystal, having owned an iPhone 4 sixteen years ago, voices skepticism about technology's promises of improvement, stating she is not "better off" with a smartphone.

Elections (3)

  • Saagar reports that Kalshi identified three instances of political insider trading, with candidates in Minnesota, Texas, and Virginia primaries betting on their own election outcomes.
  • Saagar introduces Mark Moran, a Virginia US Senate candidate who switched from Democrat to Independent, as one of the individuals identified by Kalshi for insider trading on his own race.
  • Krystal finds Mark Moran's explanation plausible, suggesting his $100 bet effectively achieved his goal of gaining attention as an unknown independent candidate.

Psychology (1)

  • Krystal explains that casinos and social media companies purposefully study and integrate "dopamine cycles" into their products to addict users and facilitate continuous monetary extraction.

Mental Health (1)

  • Krystal emphasizes that money problems are the leading cause of divorce in North America and a significant factor in suicides in the US, linking financial distress to severe personal consequences.
SafetyAI InfrastructureRegulationMarkets
Lenny's Podcast
Lenny's Podcast

How Anthropic’s product team moves faster than anyone else | Cat Wu (Head of Product, Claude Code) • Apr 23

  • Cat Wu revealed a Claude Code source code leak resulted from human error during a package release update, which passed two layers of human review; Anthropic has since hardened its processes.
  • Cat Wu outlines optimal use cases for Claude products: Claude Code CLI for powerful coding tasks; Desktop for front-end work; Web/Mobile for on-the-go tasks; and Co-work for non-code outputs like slide decks, docs, and communication management.
  • Cat Wu details how Co-work, integrated with data sources like Gmail and Google Drive, enabled her to generate a 20-page conference slide deck in hours, a task that previously took much longer. The PM's role remains curating the final outline.
  • Cat Wu shares an example of a sales representative who built a web app using Claude Code to automate customizing sales decks based on customer context from Salesforce and Gong, reducing manual work from 20-30 minutes to seconds.
  • Cat Wu emphasizes that Claude's low-ego, positive, and competent personality is crucial to its success, making it enjoyable and effective to work with, allowing it to take feedback well and encourage users.
  • Cat Wu outlines a future vision for Claude and Co-work, progressing from individual task success to managing multiple (50-100s) AI agents simultaneously, necessitating new infrastructure for remote execution, intelligent interfaces, and self-improving agent verification.
  • Cat Wu advises individuals to automate repetitive manual tasks with AI tools, aiming for 100% automation accuracy, to free up time for creative work and pet projects, and stresses using AI tools daily for real problems.
  • Cat Wu attributes Anthropic's success to its unifying mission of bringing safe AGI to humanity, which enables fast, cross-organizational decision-making and fosters a culture where teams prioritize company goals over individual product lines.
Also from this episode: (10)

Startups (2)

  • Cat Wu notes Anthropic's product feature timelines reduced from 6 months to 1 month, sometimes 1 day, due to accelerated engineering and rapidly improving AI model capabilities. Lenny Rachitsky observed this unprecedented shipping speed.
  • Cat Wu states Anthropic removes barriers to shipping by branding most new features as "research preview," allowing quick release (1-2 weeks) for feedback, and implementing a tight cross-functional launch process with engineering, marketing, and documentation teams.

Coding (1)

  • Cat Wu explains that with cheaper code and faster AI models, product taste - deciding *what* to build - becomes more valuable for product managers, shifting emphasis from long-term roadmap alignment to rapid iteration.

Enterprise (2)

  • Anthropic's approximately 30-40 PMs are organized into distinct teams, including Research PM (led by Diane) for model feedback, Claude Developer Platform, Claude Code/Co-work, Enterprise, and Growth.
  • Cat Wu clarifies that Anthropic's decision to restrict Claude subscriptions from third-party products was driven by high demand and the need to prioritize first-party products and the API, offering credits for the transition.

Models (4)

  • Cat Wu confirms Anthropic uses its own "Frontier models" internally, which has somewhat increased their shipping rate, though company processes and expectations are the primary drivers of speed.
  • Cat Wu observes that as AI models improve, knowledge workers delegate more tasks, causing token costs to increase per user, though they remain significantly lower than average salaries. Anthropic trusts its teams to use tokens responsibly.
  • Cat Wu identifies key emerging skills for AI PMs: defining product vision for the near future despite model ambiguity, eliciting maximum capability from *current* models, and building strong evaluations (evals) to measure progress and identify gaps.
  • Cat Wu explains that new, smarter models often allow for the removal of "crutch" features and prompting interventions that were previously necessary to compensate for earlier model limitations, simplifying the product over time.

AI & Tech (1)

  • Cat Wu acknowledges that the rapid pace of AI product development leads to trade-offs, specifically in product consistency and user education, as features may overlap and users struggle to keep up with daily updates.
AgentsModelsStartupsAI Infrastructure
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Intelligence from The Economist

White hat, black box: AI’s next chapter • Apr 22

  • Alex Hearn reports Anthropic's new Mythos AI, a "superhuman hacker," is too dangerous for general release, leading the company to provide preview access to 11 named groups and 40 smaller organizations.
  • Anthropic's decision to restrict Mythos access is partly to present itself as safety-oriented, manage a compute crunch, and prevent other labs from using its intellectual property to develop "fast followers."
  • Alex Hearn notes the dual-use nature of AI systems, becoming capable hackers, which makes Anthropic's voluntary behind-closed-doors approach a potential model for government regulation in the sector.
  • Bassiru Jumaie Fayet became Senegal's president in 2024, facing public debt at 130% of GDP, forcing him to raise taxes, cut agencies, and pause infrastructure to avoid default.
Also from this episode: (8)

Models (1)

  • Alex Hearn highlights Mythos's capabilities, citing its discovery of a complex bug in OpenBSD that had remained hidden for 27 years, demonstrating its advanced software engineering and hacking prowess.

Elections (3)

  • Kira Huyu reports a significant shift in Indian elections, with women becoming a central electoral force whose turnout surpassed male turnout for the first time in 2019 and again in 2024.
  • Research by Sanjay Kumar and colleagues indicates Indian women vote pragmatically, driven by tangible welfare policies rather than ideology or culture war issues, which contrasts with male voting patterns.
  • Kira Huyu explains that at least 16 of India's 28 states have female-only direct cash transfer schemes, often introduced before elections, providing $9 to $27 monthly to women half as likely to hold jobs.

Politics (1)

  • India's states spent over $18 billion on unconditional cash transfers last financial year; West Bengal’s flagship Lakshmi Bandha scheme consumes 10% of its revenue, raising concerns about crowding out education and healthcare investment.

Sports (2)

  • John Fasman notes Senegal is making its third consecutive and fourth overall World Cup appearance, reaching the quarterfinals in 2002 as one of only four African countries to achieve this.
  • Senegal won its second Africa Cup of Nations title by beating Morocco 1-0 in January, but the win was forfeited after players briefly left the pitch in protest of a penalty.

Immigration (1)

  • Nearly 4% of Senegalese live abroad, with remittances accounting for 10% of the country's GDP, highlighting the diaspora's significant economic contribution.
SafetyMacroEnterpriseStartups

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