Hyperdimensional

For the last six weeks or so, at least one American company has possessed a tool that could damage the operations of critical infrastructure and government services in every country on Earth, including the United States. Within another six weeks or so, if not already, 2-3 American companies will possess this capability. Some time after that, perhaps not much time at all, adversaries of the United States—principally China—will possess tools of this magnitude.

The company I am referring to is Anthropic, and the tool they posses is called Claude Mythos. Researchers at the company have said that the new model stands to fundamentally upend cybersecurity. At least, for the time being. They postulate that after a transitional period, the world will end up in a steady state where advanced AI benefits defenders rather than cyberattackers. Yet the transitional period could be a long and brutal storm, and we do not know what will break as it hits.

“The threat is not hypothetical,” they conclude. “Advanced language models are here.”

What we do next, both collectively and as individuals, will determine if we can weather the storm.