China Sought Access to Anthropic Mythos Model as US Extends AI Lead Over Beijing

Read Time 6 minutes Tags Anthropic AI China US Export Controls AI Safety National Security Mythos Model A representative from a Chinese think tank approached officials from Anthropic at a meeting in Singapore last month to insist that the company change its stance and give Beijing access to its powerful new artificial intelligence model according to people briefed on the discussions Anthropic refused The request was not an official demand from the Chinese government But the talks in Singapore were a form of exchange that is often meant to pave the way for formal direct diplomacy When officials from the National Security Council at the White House learned about the exchange at the meeting which was convened by the Washington based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace they reacted with alarm Some Trump administration officials saw it as another sign that Beijing would try every possible avenue to swiftly acquire the most powerful artificial intelligence model a US company has produced so far according to people briefed on the discussions The outreach is a sign of the intensifying competition between China and the United States over artificial intelligence which a growing number of national security officials and analysts have begun to liken to the Cold War nuclear arms race Chinese analysts see the release of the latest models from Anthropic and ChatGPT as a significant advance in American technology one that could pose a threat to China Technical and geopolitical context One Capability gap and model withholding In April Anthropic announced a new AI model called Mythos The company said it was withholding it from a public release because it was skilled at finding software vulnerabilities and could cause a cybersecurity reckoning It made the model available to the US government and more than 40 organizations and companies so that they could identify and guard against future attacks The technology has set off alarm bells across the world For rivals like China and Russia it showed the risks of falling behind in the race to develop powerful artificial intelligence The systems have the potential to give a nation state the upper hand in defending against and spearheading cyberattacks at a vast scope and scale For years US officials have estimated that artificial intelligence models developed by the most advanced American firms are around six months ahead of China best models But according to some US government and industry officials the latest models OpenAI ChatGPT 55 as well as Anthropic Mythos have drastically extended the lead potentially by nine months to a year Other American officials have been more cautious noting that China has a track record of catching up quickly Last year innovations by the Chinese firm DeepSeek showcased the country ability to close the AI gap And DeepSeek has said that its new model was adapted to run on chips made by the Chinese tech giant Huawei further underscoring Beijing push to keep pace Two Strategic importance of access Chinese analysts have expressed concern over the potential of the new Anthropic model One organization IDC China said that Mythos posed a significant risk to Chinese companies and that Anthropic limits on its reach created a technology gap Another analyst highlighting the cybersecurity threat wrote that China was sharpening swords while the other side rolled out a Gatling gun Chinese officials have argued that Anthropic and OpenAI have been wrong to keep a close hold on the models contending that China needs access to them to find vulnerabilities in software especially to defend its own critical infrastructure Chinese analysts have been particularly worried because they view Anthropic as hostile to China The start up is currently embroiled in suits with the Pentagon which announced it would be removed from American government networks after a dispute over how the technology would be used But since its founding Anthropic has geared its business toward US national security customers It was the first to put its AI models on classified American networks for example and has long taken pains to keep its technology out of the hands of the Chinese Three Export controls and supply chain pressure Increasingly both the Chinese and US governments view their artificial intelligence companies including those that produce the models and the cloud companies that host the computer networks they run on as national assets China blocked a 2 billion dollar acquisition by Meta of the Chinese AI company Manus China has also told some of its AI start ups that they cannot accept American investment without government approval US officials are hoping the American companies will continue to delay China access to the most advanced chips so that American spy agencies may be able to use the new program to gain access to sensitive Chinese networks according to former US officials Industry officials are trying to persuade China to change its strategy on artificial intelligence and to not make its most powerful new models open source Putting a model that has the ability to quickly infiltrate networks in the hands of hackers could unleash chaos around the globe security experts have said But Chinese officials remain skeptical as the United States continues to look for ways to extend its lead over competition from Beijing American companies including Anthropic OpenAI and Google have accused Chinese firms of trying to steal their technology by essentially copying a model core competencies Reuters reported last month that the State Department had sent a diplomatic complaint to China warning it against the practice Policy implications One Diplomacy and deconfliction The escalating rivalry is an important backdrop to the summit this week between the United States and China President Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday for meetings with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping While the race to develop the most effective model is unlikely to be discussed the two sides could talk about access to the chips that power artificial intelligence or guardrails around its use A senior US official said AI and cybersecurity were high on the agenda with Beijing noting concerns with the latest models of AI The United States and China were exploring how to establish better communication over artificial intelligence creating a deconfliction channel in which experts from each country could address the risks of artificial intelligence Two Track 2 diplomacy and information flow The meeting in Singapore was hosted by Carnegie under the ground rules that participants would not attribute the information discussed at the meetings Many of the sessions dealt with domestic regulation of artificial intelligence The direct request by the Chinese think tank official was made on the sidelines of the meeting not during one of the formal sessions U S officials noted that while a member of a Chinese think tank made the overture it was all but certain that the Chinese government had approved and directed the message Beijing typically exercises a strong degree of control over its think tanks especially when they are engaged in unofficial diplomacy known as Track 2 dialogue For policymakers the challenge is to maintain a lead in frontier models without triggering uncontrolled proliferation For industry the challenge is to comply with export controls while preserving commercial viability For researchers the challenge is to advance safety science faster than capability growth Do you think restricting frontier model access to US allies is sustainable long term Share your view in the comments