Generative AI is now at the heart of debates on global financial stability. Joachim Nagel, President of the Bundesbank, has just issued a harsh warning: Anthropic's Mythos model could expose European banking systems to unprecedented risks. Will Europe be able to react before it is too late?
In brief
- Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has warned Europe against Anthropic's Mythos AI model.
- Mythos can detect and exploit vulnerabilities in banking software, representing a major risk to financial stability.
- Nagel calls for equal access for European institutions to this technology.
- Europe has only 3 advanced AI models in 2024, compared to 40 for the United States.
A double-edged technology that worries Frankfurt
This Tuesday, in Rome, Joachim Nagel spoke to his European counterparts. The President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, and member of the Governing Council of the ECB, has clearly identified Mythos, the new AI model developed by Anthropic, as a potential threat to the stability of the European financial system.
His observation is straightforward: Mythos is capable of quickly identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities in software used by banks. Useful for strengthening digital defenses, certainly. But formidable in the wrong hands.
“ The use of AI in the financial sector opens the door to new and sophisticated cyber risks “, he warned. “Autonomous AI agents could engage in malicious behavior. »
His question, posed bluntly, sums it all up: can European banks be asked to protect systems that they are not even authorized to fully audit?
A European delay in AI which aggravates the risks
The numbers speak for themselves. In 2024, the United States has developed 40 advanced AI models, China 15, and Europe… only 3. On the private investment side, the gap is just as brutal:
- United States: $109.1 billion
- Europe: $19.4 billion
- China: 9.3 billion (compensated by 62 billion in public investments)
In this context, Nagel demands that European banks and regulators have access to Mythos before the model reveals other flaws in their infrastructure.
“ All relevant institutions should have access to this technology in order to avoid any distortion of competition “, he insisted.
Meanwhile, Anthropic continues to strengthen its dominant position. The company has just signed a colossal agreement with Amazon: more than $100 billion invested in AWS over ten years, with guaranteed computing capacity of up to 5 gigawatts to train its models.
Europe finds itself facing an uncomfortable reality: it depends on technologies it does not control, to protect systems it cannot fully audit. Without rapid access to tools like Mythos, the continent risks not only widening its technological gap, but leaving its banks exposed to the cyber threats of tomorrow.
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