Cybersecurity shares fell sharply on March 27 after reports surfaced that Anthropic is testing a new AI system with advanced cyber capabilities and possible security concerns.
The development was first reported a day earlier by Fortune, which cited details from a draft blog post that had briefly been accessible online. The document described a model known as Mythos, presented internally as the company’s most advanced system to date.
Anthropic later said the information became public due to a configuration mistake in its content management system. The draft also referenced a new classification of AI models under the name Capybara, described as larger and more powerful than the company’s current leading model, Opus.
Testing data referenced in the leak suggested that Capybara outperforms Claude Opus 4.6 in areas such as software development, academic problem-solving, and cybersecurity analysis. The company plans to delay any public rollout while sharing evaluation data with cybersecurity firms. This is to allow industry players to strengthen defenses before the technology becomes widely available.
Cybersecurity stocks collectively lost roughly $14.5 billion in value following the news. The iShares Cybersecurity ETF dropped 4.5%. Individual companies also saw steep declines, with Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler, SentinelOne, and CrowdStrike each falling around 6%. Netskope and Okta declined over 7%. Tenable experienced the largest slide, losing 9%.
Market analysts suggested that Anthropic’s cautious approach signals an effort to reduce the risk of misuse. Still, concerns about how such technology could be exploited unsettled investors. Earlier this year, reports emerged that attackers had used Anthropic’s chatbot to target Mexican government systems, accessing voter information and tax records. The company said it investigated the incident, halted the activity, and banned the accounts responsible.
This is not the first time Anthropic’s developments have influenced markets. The recent rollout of its coding tools led to declines across several sectors, including legal services, software, finance, and healthcare, as investors weighed the impact of AI-driven disruption. The company has also introduced tools aimed at strengthening defenses, such as Claude Code Security, which helps identify weaknesses in software and recommend fixes.
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, security experts say the nature of cyber threats is changing. More sophisticated tools could lower the barrier for attacks, forcing cybersecurity companies to adapt quickly.
Anthropic previously disclosed that a state-backed group from China had used its technology to automate aspects of a cyberattack, highlighting the growing complexity of the challenge.
The way news of Anthropic’s model is spooking investors in cybersecurity firms and other industries shows the disruptive potential of AI and underscores why early movers like Core AI Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHAI) are tapping this technology to enhance their products and solutions.
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