Bloomberg: White House Weighs Allowing Federal Agencies to Use Anthropic’s Advanced Mythos AI Model

Anthropic has positioned Claude Mythos 5 as its most powerful cybersecurity model, making its capabilities and access controls consequential for critical infrastructure protection and AI governance. With the public-facing Fable 5 still blocked, the gap between government and civilian access to advanced models has fueled controversy over technological monopolies and double standards.

Anthropic recently announced that Mythos 5 had been cleared to come back online, but only for certain US critical infrastructure organizations, with no access for the general public. Fable 5 remains blocked. Anthropic did not disclose the exact announcement date, the number of authorized organizations or any financial amounts involved, prompting criticism from the online and open-source communities that it is using AI risks to entrench national and technological advantages.

Anthropic’s Mythos 5 can automatically identify software vulnerabilities. The White House had previously opposed giving another 70 companies access, citing national security risks and the allocation of computing resources. The case highlights the Trump administration’s balancing act between the AI arms race, control of critical computing capacity and cooperation with frontier AI companies. Reports did not disclose any transaction value.

The latest reports indicate that the U.S. government has reversed course and allowed about 100 trusted companies to use Anthropic’s Mythos 5, broadening access beyond the additional 70 companies previously blocked. However, available information did not specify the exact approval date, participating companies, usage fees or computing quotas. Details of the national security review requirements have yet to be announced.

Mythos and Fable are Anthropic’s latest AI models. The Trump administration intervened over national security risks and concerns that their safety guardrails could be jailbroken. The episode underscores government concerns about frontier-model capabilities, technology leakage and the progress of Chinese open-source AI. It has also intensified tensions between Washington’s regulatory authority and Silicon Valley’s autonomy in research and development.

The U.S. government ordered Anthropic to withdraw Mythos and Fable entirely within 90 minutes on the day the order was issued. Anthropic subsequently stopped offering both models. The U.S. Commerce Department also imposed strict licensing controls on the models. Reports have not disclosed the order’s exact date, any penalties or transaction amounts, while market attention has shifted to the potential opportunities for open-source and decentralized AI.

Anthropic is targeting Japan’s cybersecurity market with its next-generation AI model Claude Mythos, focusing on vulnerability detection and pursuing Japanese government agencies and financial institutions. The strategy raises questions about cross-border reliance on critical computing power and cybersecurity capabilities. It has also drawn the U.S. government’s attention to computing sovereignty, prompting Japan to accelerate development of advanced domestic cybersecurity models.

As of July 20, 2026, the latest reports indicate that Anthropic is aggressively positioning itself in Japan’s government and financial markets, with Claude Mythos’s vulnerability-detection capabilities emerging as a key competitive focus. The Japanese government and industry are simultaneously advancing the development of sovereign models. Available information does not disclose the model’s release date, investment amount, procurement scale or any formal partner institutions.

macOS isolates applications through kernel permissions and multiple layers of security. If those protections are bypassed, attackers could gain elevated system privileges. Cybersecurity research firm Calif combined Anthropic’s internal Mythos AI model with human experts to analyze the system, underscoring generative AI’s growing ability to tackle complex vulnerability research.

In 2026, Calif’s team had Mythos identify a way to bypass macOS security protections and uncover a privilege-escalation vulnerability within five days. The flaw was subsequently designated CVE-2026-28952 and affects the macOS 26.5 kernel. Apple has received the report and begun verification, while the related acknowledgments also credit Anthropic’s Claude with discovering the vulnerability.

Anthropic’s Mythos AI model is positioned as a system with advanced cybersecurity capabilities. But its powerful offensive and defensive tools could also be misused, drawing scrutiny from the European Commission and financial regulators. Anthropic has pledged to comply with the EU’s AI Code of Practice, assess the model’s risks and take steps to mitigate them.

EU officials have now met with Anthropic for a briefing on cybersecurity concerns surrounding Mythos, while euro-area finance ministers have separately raised requirements concerning bank access. Available information does not disclose the exact date of the meeting, the number of banks affected or any transaction amounts. Attention will now turn to access permissions and risk-control standards.

Anthropic’s new Claude Mythos model has demonstrated a strong ability to identify software vulnerabilities. It could help companies and researchers patch systems, but could also be misused to rapidly find weaknesses and expand cyberattacks. The issue is shaping the direction of U.S. AI regulation and testing the balance between model innovation and national cybersecurity.

The White House is concerned that Claude Mythos could be used in large-scale cyberattacks, according to the latest reports. The Trump administration is considering moving away from its relatively hands-off stance and requiring new AI models to undergo government security reviews and standardized testing before release. No implementation date, thresholds, responsible agency or related budget has been announced.

Anthropic’s relationship with the US government had become strained after it rejected the Department of Defense’s demand for an “unrestricted license” to its AI technology and was placed on a blacklist. CEO Dario Amodei’s return to the White House could determine whether its latest model, Mythos, can be deployed for government and national security applications. The talks also bear on the policy boundaries AI suppliers set for military uses.

Amodei met the White House chief of staff and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to discuss Mythos deployment and national security, marking the first senior-level effort to ease tensions since the dispute. The Pentagon’s chief technology officer later said Anthropic remained on the blacklist but that Mythos would receive an exception. Reports did not disclose the exact meeting date, procurement value or deployment timetable.

Anthropic plans to offer its Mythos AI model to British banks as part of an expansion of “Project Glasswing.” Mythos is designed to identify vulnerabilities in cyber defenses, helping financial institutions uncover attack surfaces earlier. Because banks hold large volumes of sensitive data, model security and the risk of false positives are particularly important.

Anthropic recently said it was ready to offer Mythos to British banks, but as of July 20, 2026, it had not disclosed the participating banks, deployment date, contract value or pricing model. The model’s release was previously delayed for safety testing, and the initiative signals that the company is moving ahead with real-world deployment in the financial sector.

The Trump administration blacklisted Anthropic and restricted federal agencies from using its technology after the company insisted that AI should not be deployed in weapons systems. Yet Anthropic’s models remain strategically valuable in cybersecurity and software development and are still being evaluated internally, highlighting a policy conflict between national security needs and AI safety principles.

US media recently reported that the Commerce Department, congressional committees and some federal officials had circumvented the ban to privately test the cyberattack and coding capabilities of Anthropic’s most powerful model, Mythos, and receive related technical briefings. The reports did not disclose the exact dates of the tests, the committees involved or any associated amounts. The restrictions arising from Anthropic’s blacklisting remain in place.