US security agency still using Mythos despite ban – government using new security tool despite Pentagon's 'supply chain risk' designation

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Despite trading blows with the company, US government is still using Anthropic's products

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  • NSA reportedly using Anthropic’s Mythos Preview AI despite Pentagon labeling company a supply‑chain risk
  • Mythos, part of Project Glasswing, capable of discovering and exploiting zero‑days
  • Anthropic previously refused DoD request to weaken guardrails; lawsuits followed, while Trump administration met CEO to discuss cooperation

The US National Security Agency (NSA) is using Anthropic’s Mythos Preview AI tool, despite the Pentagon deeming the company a supply-chain risk earlier this year. Citing sources familiar with the matter, Axios said Mythos Preview is being used “more widely” within the department.

At this moment, neither the US Department of Defense (DoD), nor the NSA commented on the news. Anthropic hasn’t spoken about it, either.

In February this year, the US government asked Anthropic to remove the guardrails set up for its AI tools, which the company declined over fears they could be used for ‘mass domestic surveillance’ and ‘fully autonomous weapons’

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What is Mythos Preview?

Mere days after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei declared the company “cannot in good conscience accede" to the DoD's request, the US government deemed the AI company as a “supply chain risk”. Anthropic responded with two federal lawsuits, claiming violations of protected speech.

Liz Huston, a spokeswoman for the White House, commented on the lawsuits saying Anthropic was “a radical left, woke company,” adding that, “Under the Trump Administration, our military will obey the United States Constitution – not any woke AI company's terms of service.”

Mythos Preview is a newer Anthropic Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) model, and part of Project Glasswing. It was first mentioned earlier in April, when the company said it would not be releasing it to the public because it was too dangerous.

Apparently, the tool was able, with very little input, to discover and exploit software vulnerabilities, including “zero-days” flaws. Access to Project Glasswing was limited to a handful of large software companies, such as Apple, Cisco, Microsoft, Nvidia, and a handful of others, who were offered to get a head start and secure their products.

In its report, Reuters said that US President Donald Trump’s administration met with Anthropic’s CEO last week to discuss working together, for the first time since the dispute began.

Via Reuters

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Sead Fadilpašić

Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.

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