Anthropic says will put AI risks ‘on the table’ with Mythos model

So Anthropic has decided to 'lay the risks out on the table' with its Mythos model, a delightful bit of corporate theatre that suggests they've discovered a new piece of furniture for displaying their wares. The chief of relations with startups assures us this transparency is 'central to Anthropic's DNA,' which presumably means the company's genetic code now includes a clause about acknowledging problems while continuing to build them. One wonders if this table is the same one where they're serving Mythos to undisclosed recipients like the NSA, who we noted last week are reportedly using it to scan for vulnerabilities — a perfect illustration of putting risks on display while handing out the keys to the kingdom.

This 'restricted deployment' strategy for a model with 'powerful cybersecurity capabilities' feels less like caution and more like a velvet rope at an exclusive club. The company gets to posture about responsibility while still distributing the tool to select clients who can presumably handle the risks, or at least claim they can. It's the AI equivalent of selling high-performance sports cars only to 'qualified drivers' — a comforting fiction that absolves the manufacturer while the vehicle tears up the track.

The whole performance is a masterclass in having your cake and eating it too: you get to build dangerous capabilities, market them as responsibly constrained, and still profit from their deployment to those with the right credentials. When the inevitable breach or misuse occurs, Anthropic can point to their transparent table-setting and say 'we told you so,' as if warning labels ever stopped a determined user. It's risk management as PR strategy, and we're all just watching the place settings get rearranged.