Rob May: Anthropic’s Mythos could revolutionize cybersecurity, risks of AI misuse by state actors, and the emergence of a two-tier AI economy | TWIST

Mythos AI model's potential release sparks global security concerns and highlights Anthropic's strategic industry leadership.

Listen on This Week in Startups

Share

Add us on Google by Editorial Team Apr. 10, 2026

Key takeaways

• Anthropic’s new AI model, Mythos, has advanced capabilities in identifying and exploiting security vulnerabilities.
• Mythos poses significant risks if released, as it could be used by malicious actors to exploit software vulnerabilities.
• Anthropic’s cautious approach to releasing AI models is seen as a responsible move given the potential dangers.
• The AI industry is moving towards a two-tier economy, with privileged access to advanced models like Mythos.
• Anthropic is perceived to have surpassed OpenAI in several areas due to its focused approach.
• The parity among top AI labs suggests that superintelligence will become widely accessible once AGI is achieved.
• Product market fit is crucial for entrepreneurial success, with Anthropic leading in this area.
• More powerful AI models are expected to emerge, necessitating strategic responses to mitigate associated risks.
• The open source community may take several months to catch up to proprietary models like Mythos.
• Anthropic’s strategic decisions are shaping the competitive landscape in the AI sector.
• The potential release of Mythos raises geopolitical concerns about AI misuse by state-sponsored groups.
• AI advancements are driving a shift in how cybersecurity threats are identified and managed.
• The rapid evolution of AI technology requires proactive measures to address potential security threats.
• Anthropic’s leadership in AI development is influencing the broader tech industry.
• Access to advanced AI models is becoming a key competitive differentiator in the tech sector.

Guest intro

Rob May is CEO of Neurometric, a company optimizing inference for multi-model AI systems. He previously co-founded Talla, an AI-driven knowledge management platform, and Backupify, a cloud backup service acquired by Datto. Rob is also an angel investor in over 100 AI startups.

The impact of Mythos on cybersecurity

• Mythos is capable of finding and exploiting security vulnerabilities that humans often miss.

• Mythos is incredible at both finding exploiting and patching security vulnerabilities in software that humans have often missed.

  — Rob May

• The model can chain together multiple vulnerabilities to create sophisticated exploits.

• This model is able to create exploits out of three four sometimes five vulnerabilities that in sequence give you some kind of very sophisticated end outcome.

  — Rob May

• Mythos could be used by malicious actors if released, posing a significant security threat.

• Anthropic cannot let this out of the bag because if they did then north korea and china and everyone else could use it to essentially break the modern.

  — Rob May

• The potential misuse of Mythos highlights the need for cautious AI deployment.
• Anthropic’s decision to withhold Mythos reflects a responsible approach to AI development.

• Anthropic is doing the right thing here by saying hey we’re not gonna release something this dangerous you know from this off the cuff.

  — Rob May

The emerging two-tier AI economy

• Anthropic is creating a two-tier economy in AI access, impacting competition.

• It does create a situation in which we now have a very much two tier economy there are the companies that are sufficiently important that anthropic is letting them have access to mythos and that means they can be ahead on both defense and offense.

  — Rob May

• Companies with access to Mythos gain a competitive edge in AI development.
• The distribution of AI resources is shifting, affecting innovation and market dynamics.
• Anthropic’s strategic decisions are influencing the competitive landscape in the AI sector.
• The two-tier economy raises questions about fairness and access to advanced AI tools.
• The privileged access to Mythos underscores the importance of strategic partnerships in AI.
• The competitive dynamics in the AI industry are being reshaped by access to advanced models.

Anthropic’s strategic focus and competitive edge

• Anthropic has surpassed OpenAI in several areas due to its focused approach.

• I think anthropic has significantly passed openai on a lot of things and I think the reason is that they’ve been more focused.

  — Rob May

• The company’s strategic focus is driving its success in the AI industry.
• Product market fit is a key factor in Anthropic’s competitive advantage.

• I think product market fit is the ultimate arbiter of entrepreneur success and clearly no one has more pmf than anthropic today.

  — Rob May

• Anthropic’s leadership in AI development is influencing the broader tech industry.
• The company’s strategic decisions are shaping the competitive landscape in the AI sector.
• Anthropic’s focused approach is contributing to its success in AI development.

The future of AI and superintelligence

• The parity among top AI labs suggests that superintelligence will become widely accessible.

• What we’ve seen over the last eighteen months that surprised everybody is that the parity amongst the top labs… is when we hit agi like we’re all gonna have access to superintelligence for free and open source three to five months later.

  — Rob May

• The achievement of AGI will lead to a significant shift in AI accessibility.
• The open source community may take several months to catch up to proprietary models.

• I’m curious if it’s more than three to five months until they catch up and if so we have more time to fix the world.

  — Rob May

• The rapid evolution of AI technology requires proactive measures to address potential security threats.
• More powerful AI models are expected to emerge, necessitating strategic responses.

• More powerful models are gonna come from us and from others and so we do need a plan to respond to this.

  — Rob May

Geopolitical implications of AI advancements

• The potential release of Mythos raises geopolitical concerns about AI misuse.
• Malicious actors, including state-sponsored groups, could exploit Mythos if released.
• The geopolitical implications of advanced AI technologies are a critical concern.
• Anthropic’s cautious approach to AI deployment reflects an awareness of these risks.
• The potential misuse of AI models underscores the need for responsible development.
• The geopolitical landscape is being influenced by advancements in AI technology.
• The responsible deployment of AI models is essential to mitigate geopolitical risks.
• The potential for AI misuse highlights the importance of international cooperation in AI governance.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.