ECB is studying defences against Mythos-powered attacks, Lagarde says

Published Fri, May 8, 2026 · 07:19 PM

[FRANKFURT] The European Central Bank is studying defences against cyberattacks powered by artificial intelligence model Mythos but, like the rest of Europe, it is at a disadvantage because it has no access to it, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Friday.

Developed by Anthropic to find flaws in computer code to help bolster defences against cyberattacks, Mythos is seen however by cybersecurity experts as capable of turbo-charging attacks on banks’ technology systems it aims to protect. It has so far only been made available to firms in the United States.

Anthropic itself has said Mythos could be misused and this is why it has only launched it in a test environment to a small group of companies.

Lagarde lamented the lack of access but said the ECB, which sets interest rates and oversees banks in the euro zone, was studying countermeasures anyway.

“There’s a lot being said about Mythos and it’s a very flashy and sexy topic at the moment. It’s unfortunately one that divides the level playing field between the US and the rest of the world, given that only US companies have been given access,” Lagarde said at an event in Spain.

“I can assure you that from our perspective as ECB, we are trying to elaborate and identify what defence we should have in place in case this is accessed by a malign state actor or malign actors,” she added.

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She said an attack by a state-sponsored actor was more likely given the sheer computing capacity needed.

ECB bank supervisors have also been quizzing banks about their readiness to deal with a new breed of cybersecurity-focussed AI models.

The European Commission said earlier this week it has been briefed by Anthropic about Mythos’ capabilities and it was assessing the implications for EU policies and legislation. REUTERS