When China Gets Its Own Mythos
2 hours ago
- Anthropic and OpenAI have developed AI models (Mythos, GPT-5.5-Cyber) that can find and exploit software vulnerabilities faster and more effectively than most humans, even detecting flaws undetected for decades.
- These AI models are currently restricted to defensive cybersecurity work, but adversaries like China are racing to acquire similar capabilities through distillation, chip smuggling, and domestic development.
- The United States has a short window (9–12 months) to bolster critical infrastructure defenses against AI-powered cyberattacks, which could enable widespread, simultaneous disruption of water, power, and transit systems.
- China's open-weight model GLM-5.2 and its state-aligned labs pose a near-term threat, as Chinese actors can easily remove safeguards and deploy offensive capabilities.
- Policy recommendations include disrupting adversarial distillation and chip smuggling, creating a dedicated cyberdefense institution (e.g., Idaho National Laboratory), and redesigning infrastructure for resilience against physical attacks.
- The U.S. must also strengthen counterintelligence for AI labs and coordinate with international allies to secure critical infrastructure vendors.