An impromptu meeting of bank CEOs and federal officials was held in the nation’s capital this week because of the destructive capabilities of Anthropic’s latest AI model, Claude Mythos, which can detect cybersecurity flaws in operating systems and web browsers with exponentially greater efficiency than human hackers.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gathered the heads of Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo on Tuesday after the limited rollout of Mythos, per Bloomberg. The emergency meeting is a sign that the Trump administration thinks that, while Mythos is intended to protect companies from hackers, it could be used to attack the foundation of the US financial system by targeting the world’s biggest banks.

What’s so scary?

Anthropic distributed Mythos to only ~40 organizations, which include major banks, according to Bloomberg, because the company said it’s too powerful for a full release to the public. CNBC reported that the company also briefed government officials on its capabilities before the release. So, how dangerous is it?

• Officials believe Mythos can debilitate Fortune 100 companies, infiltrate national defense systems, and take down huge chunks of the internet, according to Axios.
• A security expert told Business Insider that a team of humans can discover about 100 critical flaws with no immediate fixes per year (not including what happens on bad first dates), but Mythos can find “thousands.”

Offense vs. defense: Mythos is equally capable of identifying and exploiting weaknesses in a system. Experts told BI that this gives hackers an advantage in the short term. But as widespread adoption occurs, the edge shifts back to those defending themselves.

Safety net: Regulators require banks to hold capital in reserve to cover unexpected losses from events such as data breaches and cyberattacks. But banks have complained that they require too much, and a proposal from the Fed last month, if approved, would ease some of those requirements.

Zoom out: The concerns over Mythos come as Anthropic is fighting the Trump administration over being designated a supply chain risk by the Pentagon after limiting the use of its AI tech in war.—DL

Inflation spiked last month as the Iran war drove up gas prices. Consumer prices were up 3.3% in March from a year earlier, representing the highest reading in two years, data released yesterday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. The increase was largely driven by the war pushing up the price of gas, so the growth of inflation compared to February was slower when looking at a measure that excludes volatile food and energy prices (0.2% growth for core inflation, compared to 0.9% growth overall). And shoppers are braced for inflation to keep getting worse: Consumer sentiment fell to a record low this month before the ceasefire as Americans fretted over the war’s economic impact.—AR

Artemis II splashed down safely off the coast of San Diego. The four-astronaut crew aboard the Integrity spacecraft made what NASA commentator Rob Navias called a “perfect bull’s-eye splashdown” at 8:07pm ET—landing within a mile of their target after following a nearly perfect flight path. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen returned from their record-breaking mission happy and healthy. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said following the return that the US is “back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon” as the space program now continues to work toward establishing a long-term lunar presence using reusable systems.—HVL

JD Vance in Pakistan for US–Iran peace talks. With a fragile two-week ceasefire in place, Vance said before heading to the talks that he’s trying to have a “positive” negotiation. But he cautioned, “If they’re gonna try and play us, then they’re gonna find that the negotiating team is not that receptive.” However, things are already off to a rocky start, with Iran saying while Vance was en route that talks could not begin unless the US released Iran’s frozen assets and there was a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has been continuing attacks.—AR

The theory that businesses would ditch New York City in response to democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policy plans presently seems as real as city sewers teeming with alligators.

In the lead-up to Mamdani’s 100th day in office yesterday, business leaders continued to warn that his proposed tax hikes on companies and New Yorkers making over $1 million would spur many to move to cheaper places (with inferior bagels).

But, so far, corporate America is actually expanding its New York footprint under Mamdani, according to research by real estate firm JLL:

• The city’s office vacancies were 13.5% in the first three months of 2026, down 2.2% from a year before—while leasing by AI companies soared.
• JLL said that companies might be drawn to NYC’s unmatched talent pool: The city attracted 10% more early- and mid-career professionals from top schools than Florida did in the past year, according to its analysis of LinkedIn data.

Exodus anxieties

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said this week that the higher cost of doing business in the Big Apple due to taxes could drive companies and talent to relocate to locales like Dallas, Texas, where the banking giant now has more employees than in NYC. And private equity behemoth Apollo Global Management said it’s looking to add a second HQ outside of New York City in Texas or Florida.

However, the tax fears might not materialize…as NYC’s mayor needs state approval for most tax hikes, which New York Gov. Kathy Hochul seems reluctant to grant.—SK