NSA Is Using Anthropic's Mythos Despite the Blacklist

It has been confirmed that the NSA is using Anthropic Mythos Preview. Even after senior DoD officials designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk, actual use has continued, according to Axios, which cited two sources on this.

• The DoD pushed for a block on Anthropic along with vendors in February, but within the military the tool's use is reported to have continued more broadly.
• It is not confirmed what purpose the NSA is using Mythos for, but other organizations with the same access are primarily using it for detecting exploitable security vulnerabilities.
• Anthropic is limiting Mythos access to about 40 organizations, and only 12 have publicly disclosed their adoption.
• One source said the NSA is one of the undisclosed organizations with access.
• UK counterpart agencies have also stated that they hold access to the model through their own AI Security Institute.

Meanwhile, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday to discuss government use of Mythos, Anthropic's plans, and security practices. Following the meeting, the focus of discussion is expected to shift to how departments outside the Pentagon will engage with the model.

The conflict between the Pentagon and Anthropic deepened earlier this year during tense contract renegotiations. The DoD demanded that Anthropic make Claude models available for all lawful purposes, but Anthropic maintains its position that mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons development must be blocked.