Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman convened a high-level meeting with the heads of banks on Thursday amid global concern about the Mythos AI system. The interaction focused on the “unprecedented” threat posed by the Mythos system developed by Anthropic — with calls for the establishment of a “robust mechanism for real-time threat intelligence sharing” among banks.
According to details shared by the Finance Ministry, Sitharaman had stressed the need for a “very high degree of vigilance, preparedness and better coordination across financial institutions and banks” during the meeting. The discussion was also attended by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and focused on the risks and measures needed to deal with AI.
Anthropic has deemed its recently announced model ‘too dangerous’ for public release — highlighting its ability to autonomously identify major vulnerabilities in popular software and infrastructure. According to an Indian Express report, India is pursuing direct talks with senior Anthropic leaders in the United States.
What did FM Sitharaman say?
The meeting was held to assess the risks posed by Mythos — with officials urging a high degree of caution and precautionary measures. Banking institutions have been asked to take preemptive steps to safeguard their systems from the AI model. A senior official told the Indian Express that a report suggesting Mythos was accessed by unauthorised individuals had also raised significant concerns.
“FM Nirmala Sitharaman advised the Indian Banks’ Association to develop a coordinated institutional mechanism to respond swiftly and effectively to any such threats. She also directed banks to engage the best available cybersecurity professionals and specialised agencies to continuously strengthen defensive and monitoring capabilities of the banks,” the Finance Ministry added in a lengthy X post.
The Finance Ministry has also broached the possibility of setting up a “robust mechanism for real-time threat intelligence sharing” among banks. Indian CERT and other relevant agencies will be involved to ensure that emerging threats are identified early and disseminated across the ecosystem without delay.
“What is being broadly discussed is the basis on which the government and regulators, like the RBI, can build safety and security around such AI models. We are also talking to our own AI model developers and others because they understand how such systems are made and can be guarded against,” a senior official told Indian Express.
What’s the risk to financial institutions and banks?
Sitharaman flagged the “unprecedented threat” posed by the Mythos AI model during the meeting with banking executives on Thursday. A senior finance ministry official told PTI that the ministry and the RBI were now studying the extent of risks that the Indian financial sector faces from the Anthropic breach.
“…assess the potential impact of emerging threats linked to recent developments in Artificial Intelligence models, particularly the possibility of such technologies being misused to weaponise software vulnerabilities,” the Finance Ministry added.
Officials insist that Indian systems are presently secure and there is no need for undue concern. The RBI is reportedly doing due-diligence at its end to ensure India’s financial sector is secure.
What is Mythos?
Mythos is a powerful AI model that has sparked concerns among regulators about its unprecedented ability ” tidentify digital security vulnerabilities and potential for misuse”. Anthropic has chosen not to release the latest AI model publicly and argues that its capabilities pose unprecedented cybersecurity risks. The company said Mythos can outperform humans at cyber-security tasks, finding and exploiting thousands of bugs, including 27-year-old vulnerabilities, in major operating systems and web browsers.
It was announced on April 7 and is now being deployed as a part of ‘Project Glasswing’. This is a controlled initiative by Anthropic under which select organisations “are permitted to use the unreleased Claude Mythos Preview model for defensive cybersecurity”.
The US-based artificial intelligence company had sparked global alarm after it said unauthorised access was made on its new model recently.
Infosys CEO sees potential job boom
Salil Parekh said during the Infosys Q4 FY26 earnings call on Thursday that such AI tools could also create new jobs as people began looking for solutions.
“Based on current understanding, AI systems are revealing more vulnerabilities than previously thought possible,” Parekh stated.
He explained that as AI agents probe deeper into legacy architectures and complex software layers, the “myth” of impenetrable security is being laid to rest, creating a surge in demand for remediation services. Infosys plans to position itself as the primary fixer for these AI-exposed gaps amid the “vulnerability explosion”.