UK banks’ lack of Mythos access a wake-up call, government AI adviser says

By Phoebe Seers

LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) – UK banks’ inability to access Anthropic’s powerful AI model Mythos underscores the urgent need for Britain to build its own AI capabilities and adopt a more strategic approach to the technology, a government-appointed banking industry adviser said.

Harriet Rees, chief information officer at Starling Bank, who was appointed “AI champion” by the finance ministry in January, said Britain needed to build AI infrastructure and models, and develop skills so “we are not fully reliant on U.S. tech providers.”

“Now is the time for us to think very strategically about what we need to do to protect our leading position moving forward. Time really is of the essence, we don’t have two years here,” Rees said in an interview with Reuters.

U.S.-based Anthropic released Mythos in April to a select group that included U.S. lender JPMorgan.

Banks want Mythos because it is said to be the most advanced AI model for identifying cybersecurity vulnerabilities, helping them patch weaknesses more quickly and strengthen their defences. 

In Britain, only a very small number of banks – mainly the UK operations of U.S. lenders – were granted access, according to Rees.

Big British lenders still do not have a timeline for when they expect to get access to Mythos either, the CEO of one of Britain’s largest banks told Reuters last week.

An Anthropic spokesperson said: “We have begun the rollout of Mythos 5 to organizations outside the United States. We continue to coordinate with the U.S. government to expand access to the broader set of domestic and international partners.”

PACKAGE OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Rees, together with fellow ministry appointee Rohit Dhawan, Lloyds Banking Group’s head of AI, has developed a package of recommendations on AI policy and regulation that aim to boost use of the technology.

The proposals, which also urge regulators to review the growing use of AI chatbots to deliver financial advice to consumers, were published on Tuesday as part of the government’s financial services AI adoption plan ahead of finance minister Rachel Reeves’ annual Mansion House speech.

The UK government said it accepted the recommendations aimed at it, and would work with regulators and industry on the next steps. 

In a statement, Reeves said she has “set out a serious plan for AI sovereignty, backing British companies to compete and win, and the AI Adoption Plan is central to achieving this across the financial services sector.”

Regulators have long warned that concentration among critical technology providers could pose financial stability and operational risks.

Alongside work to build out domestic capability, the UK should increase its options by building relationships with AI firms outside of the U.S., noting those in China and France, Rees said.

To improve transparency and strengthen the resilience of the AI firms on which banks already depend, Dhawan added that the UK could bring them within the remit of financial regulators by designating them as “critical” providers to the finance sector, joining four U.S. cloud providers announced on Friday.

(Reporting by Phoebe Seers, additional reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Susan Fenton)