World must grapple with AI risks: Macklem

Global financial systems need to “come to grips” with the risks posed by rapid advances in artificial intelligence models like Anthropic’s Mythos, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Friday.

Developer Anthropic claims the upcoming Mythos model of its Claude AI is capable of quickly detecting long-hidden cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

The model has not yet seen a wide commercial release, but major financial market players and regulators are still anxious about the technology’s disruptive potential.

Mythos was discussed at a meeting last week of the Bank of Canada’s financial sector resiliency group, which includes representatives from the finance department and major Canadian banks. U.S. officials have reportedly convened similar roundtables.

Macklem told reporters during a call Friday from the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s spring meetings that there has been a fair amount of discussion about the model at the forum. He confirmed he spoke to Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell about the U.S. approach.

“I don’t think anybody knows the full implications at this point. That’s precisely what everybody’s trying to get to the bottom of,” Macklem said.

He said policy-makers and financial institutions are still in “early discussions” about what Mythos means for the integrity of the global financial system.

But Macklem emphasized that Mythos is not a one-off event and the nature of AI development means firms, regulators and policy-makers need to put plans in place to grapple with this rapidly evolving technology.

Whether it’s Mythos or another AI model, Macklem said, the ability of these new technologies to both expose and exploit vulnerabilities “puts a premium” on having strong cybersecurity protections in place.

“We’re going to need to come to grips with how we’re going to manage this on an ongoing basis,” he said.

“The world’s moving quickly. We need to keep up.”

Canada’s AI Minister Evan Solomon said he was meeting with Anthropic officials earlier this week to discuss global concern about the new Mythos model.

“Our No. 1 goal is to protect Canadians, Canadian data and our institutions, so we’re very aware of it,” he said Monday.

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne was also in Washington for the IMF meetings and told reporters earlier in the day that Mythos has become a “test case” for how governments prepare for and react to new technologies.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2026.

— with files from Anja Karadeglija