Anthropic's Mythos shows need to 'come to grips' with AI risks: BoC governor

Experts warn a powerful new AI model could exploit major systems and browsers using simple prompts. Its maker calls it too dangerous to release. Heather Wright

Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem says global financial systems need to “come to grips” with the risks posed by rapid advances in artificial intelligence models like Anthropic’s Mythos.

Developer Anthropic claims the upcoming Mythos model of its Claude AI is capable of quickly detecting long-hidden cybersecurity vulnerabilities, news which has made major financial market players and regulators anxious about the technology’s disruptive potential.

The Bank of Canada gathered representatives from big banks and financial agencies last week to discuss the risks Mythos poses for the Canadian financial system.

Macklem says while there’s been a fair amount of discussion about Mythos on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings in Washington, no one knows yet the full implications of this latest AI advance.

He says Mythos is not a one-off event and the nature of AI development means firms, regulators and policy-makers need to grapple with how these rapidly evolving technologies will affect the integrity of financial systems in Canada and around the world.

Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne was also in Washington for the IMF meetings and told reporters earlier in the day that Mythos has become a “test case” for how governments prepare for and react to new technologies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2026.

Craig Lord, The Canadian Press