NSA deploys Anthropic's Mythos AI model for cyber operations despite Pentagon blacklist

NSA said to be readying Anthropic's Mythos for use in cyber operations

Anthropic has deployed around half-a-dozen engineers to the National Security Agency to help its spies use the company's frontier cybersecurity AI model, Mythos, The Financial Times reported, citing anonymous sources. The engineers are reportedly tasked with helping the intelligence agency use Mythos for certain applications, the report said. However, it's unclear if the engineers or Mythos are being actively used in the agency's hacking operations. The NSA is tasked with collecting intelligence from wiretaps, undersea cables, corporate partnerships and other clandestine means, as well as conducting offensive cyberattacks on foreign adversaries. The FT's report adds to earlier news from Axios, which reported in April that the NSA was using Mythos despite a federal ban on using Anthropic's technology. That ban followed a decision by the Department of Defense to designate Anthropic a "supply chain risk" in retaliation for not allowing the government to use its models for mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons. The latest report comes as governments are scrambling to gain access to Mythos, which Anthropic claims it had to limit access to, fearing its cybersecurity capabilities could be exploited to discover security flaws and carry out hacks. When reached by TechCrunch, a spokesperson for the NSA declined to confirm or deny the reporting. Anthropic did not respond to a request for comment.

NSA using Clause Mythos for 'offensive cyber operations,' report claims -- says 'half-a-dozen' Anthropic engineers embedded inside the agency

Just months after the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) labelled Anthropic a "supply chain risk", completely cutting off the firm from being a vendor of any AI wares, a new report claims that the National Security Agency (NSA) is using Anthropic's cybersecurity-focused Mythos model "for offensive cyber operations" with the help of "half a dozen" staff from Anthropic embedded inside the agency. The report comes from Financial Times (FT), which cites "people familiar with the arrangement." According to the report, the rationale behind the move is that the U.S.' adversaries will surely be using cybersecurity-focused AI models like Mythos, and gaining an early upper hand is fundamental. Regardless of political optics, this logic has some merit in the face of a security landscape that's shattering the usual 90-day vulnerability report window and bringing the zero-day exploit timeframe down to a nice round zero. It's worth noting that the FT's contacts are unaware as to whether the embedded staff are assisting in any active operations (as opposed to simply guiding the use of the technology and customizing models), but they expect the bot to be useful for "infiltrating the networks of nations such as China or Iran." The article states that Anthropic has posted a handful of "embedding engineers" inside the NSA to help with using and customizing Mythos for "specialized applications", likely meaning tailoring it to unique types of cyber-attacks. This news is surprising, as for the time being, Anthropic is theoretically banned from offering services to any branch of the DOD. It's not only DOD representatives who will be staring at their proverbial plates, either, as the cheeks of Anthropic's execs might likewise be tinted pink. The dispute started in January 2026, a time during which the DOD and Anthropic were negotiating a $200 million contract. The Trump administration demanded that Anthropic allow usage of its wares for "all lawful purposes", implying removing some or all AI guardrails, a move that went against the firm's usage policy. This caused Anthropic to refuse to comply with the request, and CEO Dario Amodei to post a statement defending the company's position against its tech being used for tasks like mass surveillance and autonomous weapons, noting that "in a narrow set of cases, [Anthropic believes] AI can undermine, rather than defend, democratic values." The DOD promptly shot down the contract, and eventually, in early March 2026, the Trump administration took the unprecedented step of labeling Anthropic, an American company, as a supply chain risk, putting it in the same bag as Huawei and ZTE. Anthropic proceeded to file a currently ongoing lawsuit against the DOD, calling the decision a violation of the First Amendment. The DOD went on to continue work with Anthropic rival OpenAI instead, something that may have granted a financial foothold to the revenue-embattled firm. Ironically enough, after public backlash, OpenAI added some safety clauses to its deal, which the DOD accepted, suggesting that its fracas with Anthropic may have been politically motivated. The news also comes hot on the heels of the Trump administration issuing an executive order that asks AI companies to volunteer their leading-edge models to the government for 30 days before they're made available to other entities, though it's unclear what will be classified as a "covered frontier model" or a "trusted partner", and what happens if a company doesn't play ball. There's no telling if the NSA purportedly using Mythos is a sign that the DOD may be warming up to Anthropic again, or if there's a schism inside the agency that believes Mythos is a first-rate necessity. The ongoing nature of the two Anthropic-DOD suits also muddies the waters even more, as two separate courts have so far issued contradictory rulings on the matter. Mythos is currently in an early-access stage, as Anthropic announced it would distribute it to 150 organizations across 15 countries, up and out from only a handful of U.S. organizations after its April release. The news follows a revelation from Anthropic this week claiming that Claude AI is now helping to build itself at a much faster rate than expected, prompting the company to call for the option to slow down or even halt AI development. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Anthropic is blacklisted by the Pentagon and being used by the NSA at the same time

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Facepalm: It appears that the US government isn't completely against American agencies using technology from Anthropic, a company it designated a "supply chain risk" earlier this year. According to a new report, the NSA is using the AI firm's Mythos model "for offensive cyber operations." The Financial Times reports that Anthropic has installed half a dozen engineers inside the NSA as forward-deployed staff. Their job is said to involve guiding the agency's use of Claude Mythos and customizing the model for specific applications. It remains unclear whether the Anthropic employees are helping with live hacking operations, or if Mythos is being used in active campaigns. But one person close to the arrangement told the FT that the model would be useful for infiltrating networks in countries such as China and Iran. The logic is that US adversaries are likely to be using cyber-focused AI systems of their own, making an early advantage important. The report fits the NSA's remit, which includes collecting signals intelligence through wiretaps, undersea cables, corporate partnerships, and other clandestine methods, as well as offensive cyberattacks against foreign adversaries. The agency declined to confirm or deny the report, while Anthropic did not comment. In February, the Pentagon threatened to cut Anthropic off unless it dropped restrictions on using Claude for mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. The dispute reportedly began while Anthropic and the Department of Defense were negotiating a $200 million contract, before the administration demanded broader access to Claude for "all lawful purposes." Anthropic refused, leading the government to label it a supply chain risk, putting it in the same broad penalty box as firms such as Huawei and ZTE. The company later said it would sue, arguing that the designation was legally unsound. A federal judge in California temporarily blocked one version of the designation in March, but a Washington appeals court allowed the Pentagon blacklist to remain in place in April. By May, the Pentagon had signed major AI deals with OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia while cutting Anthropic out. The NSA sits under the Department of Defense, the same department arguing in court that Anthropic's technology poses a national security risk. But reports suggest the NSA was already using Mythos despite the blacklist, implying parts of the DoD may consider the model too useful to ignore. Anthropic has framed Mythos as a defensive cybersecurity tool. The company launched Project Glasswing in April with partners including AWS, Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and CrowdStrike, saying Mythos had identified thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities. This week, Anthropic said partners had found more than 10,000 high- or critical-severity flaws, and access was expanding to around 150 more organizations in over 15 countries.

Anthropic is Now Helping US National Security Agency with Its Mythos Model

Reports suggest that Anthropic has deployed resources at the NSA to help them with the task of spying The United States under Donald Trump has given a new meaning to the phrase "my way or the highway." Having first ejected Anthropic off the Pentagon and other official premises, the White House softened up when the Claude-maker revealed the prowess of its Mythos model. And now, the very same model is said to be helping the NSA with spying activity. Mind you, the reason that Anthropic was thrown out in the first place and designated as a supply-chain risk (the first for an American company) was ostensibly due to its CEO Dario Amodei not agreeing to two conditions sought by the Pentagon - use of its AI models in autonomous weaponry and ethical rejection of governments bugging citizens. We aren't sure what changed between then and now, but the fact remains that Amodei and his team met senior White House officials who then nudged banks to try out Mythos as part of their cybersecurity protocols. Anthropic had highlighted their newest model as the best-ever for finding cyber vulnerabilities even in archaic codebases. Anthropic's decision now to deploy some engineers to the National Security Agency for helping its spies use Mythos was reported by Financial Times quoting anonymous sources. It claimed that these techies were helping the intelligence agency use Claude Mythos for some applications, though it wasn't clear whether it was for hacking activities. Not that we expect the NSA to disclose such things to the media. All we know for sure is that Claude Mythos could be used by the agency as part of their tasks for collecting intelligence from wiretaps, undersea cables, corporate partnerships, and other clandestine means. Because, this is what the NSA has as its formal job brief. This report comes in the backdrop of another similar one from Axios that indicated the NSA was already using Mythos in spite of the federal ban on the use of Anthropic's technology. It suggested that the agency was using Mythos for its work, which underscored speculation that Donald Trump and Dario Amodei had smoked the peace pipe. As we reported earlier, these reports seem to suggest that the NSA was part of the smaller group that Anthropic had shared Claude Mythos as part of their Glasswing project. Initially, the company had listed out 12 names, which was then bumped up to 28 and now stands at more than a hundred, with India's CERT-in also getting access.