Bank of England Tests AI Risks Following Anthropic Product Launch

The Bank of England is conducting scenario analysis and simulations to evaluate how artificial intelligence could destabilize the financial system. Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden stated the central bank is specifically focusing on herding behavior among AI agents, which could amplify market selloffs during periods of high stress.

These measures follow the release of Mythos by Anthropic. Governor Andrew Bailey suggested the product may have "found a way to crack the whole cyber risk world open" due to its advanced coding capabilities. While the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee currently believes advanced AI tools do not pose a systemic risk, it warned that the danger could escalate quickly as adoption increases.

Concurrent with these technical assessments, the Treasury Committee criticized the British finance ministry for inertia regarding the Critical Third Parties Regime. Committee Chair Meg Hillier argued that the powers of the regime remain unused while the system remains vulnerable. Treasury minister Lucy Rigby responded that initial designation decisions for the regime are expected within the year.