Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held a high-level meeting with bank chiefs amid global concerns over Anthropic’s Mythos AI system. The discussion focused on its “unprecedented” risk potential and the need for stronger coordination among financial institutions.
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Officials, including IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, stressed the importance of vigilance, preparedness, and real-time threat intelligence sharing between banks to address emerging AI-related risks. The meeting comes amid growing global concern over the security implications of next-generation AI models and their potential misuse in critical sectors such as banking and finance.
Mythos is a highly advanced AI system that has raised regulatory concerns for its ability to identify and exploit digital security weaknesses. Anthropic has chosen not to release the latest version publicly, citing serious cybersecurity risks.
The model is reported to outperform humans in vulnerability detection, identifying thousands of software flaws, including long-standing issues in major operating systems and browsers. India is also in discussions with Anthropic leadership in the US regarding these concerns.
In a post on X after the meeting, Sitharaman said banks must maintain a “very high degree of vigilance, preparedness and better coordination” to deal with emerging AI-related risks. She also flagged what she described as an “unprecedented threat” posed by advanced AI systems such as Mythos, and called for stronger institutional mechanisms to respond to such challenges.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman urged banks to strengthen cybersecurity against risks from the Mythos AI system and set up a coordinated response mechanism through the Indian Banks’ Association, including hiring specialised cybersecurity experts.
The Finance Ministry proposed real-time threat intelligence sharing across banks with support from CERT-In and other agencies to enable faster detection and response. The government and RBI are also working on broader frameworks to manage AI-related risks in consultation with experts and regulators.
Officials said the financial system remains secure but stressed the need for continued vigilance, regular security upgrades, and ongoing assessment of how advanced AI could be misused to exploit software vulnerabilities.
