NSA spies are reportedly using Anthropic’s Mythos, despite Pentagon feud

<p id="speakable-summary" class="wp-block-paragraph">The National Security Agency is said to be using Mythos Preview, Anthropic’s recently announced model that it withheld from public release, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/04/19/nsa-anthropic-mythos-pentagon" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Axios reports</a>. The news comes weeks after the NSA’s parent agency, the Department of Defense, labeled Anthropic a “<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/05/its-official-the-pentagon-has-labeled-anthropic-a-supply-chain-risk/">supply-chain risk</a>,” after the company refused to allow Pentagon officials unrestricted access to its model’s full capabilities.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Anthropic announced Mythos earlier this month as a frontier model designed for cybersecurity tasks, but claimed the model was too capable of offensive cyberattacks to be released publicly. As a result, the AI firm limited access to Mythos to around 40 organizations, of which it has publicly named <a href="https://www.anthropic.com/glasswing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">only a dozen</a>. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The NSA appears to be among the undisclosed recipients, and is said to be using Mythos primarily for scanning environments for exploitable vulnerabilities. The U.K.’s AI Security Institute has also <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/mi5-called-protect-britain-breakthrough-060000124.html?guccounter=1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">confirmed it has access</a> to Mythos.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The U.S. military’s expanding use of Anthropic’s tools comes as it simultaneously argues in <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/09/anthropic-sues-defense-department-over-supply-chain-risk-designation/">court</a> that those tools can threaten national security. The Pentagon’s dispute originated when Anthropic refused to make Claude available for mass domestic surveillance and autonomous weapons development. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The NSA’s access to Mythos comes as Anthropic’s relationship with the Trump administration appears to be <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/18/anthropics-relationship-with-the-trump-administration-seems-to-be-thawing/">thawing</a>. Last Friday, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. </p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The White House <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/04/17/anthropic-white-house-wiles-bessent-amodei" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">reportedly</a> called the meeting productive.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">TechCrunch has reached out to the NSA for comment. Anthropic declined to comment. </p> Got a tip or documents about the AI industry? From a non-work device, contact Rebecca Bellan confidentially at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com or Signal: rebeccabellan.491.