Europe has been shut out of a powerful new U.S. artificial intelligence system designed to detect critical cyber vulnerabilities, exposing a growing gap now worrying eurozone finance ministers.
On Monday, the Eurogroup discussed the risks posed by Mythos, a new model developed by Anthropic. European officials do not have access to the system—and, for now, they are not expected to get it.
Mythos is not just another AI tool. It is built to find hidden security flaws in digital systems—weak points that can be used either to defend infrastructure or to attack it. Its capabilities are considered so sensitive that its developers have restricted access on security grounds. Among those using it are major U.S. players such as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and JPMorgan Chase. No European company is included.
That is the real issue. Europe is not just behind—it depends on others for the tools needed to secure its own systems.
The scale of the gap is becoming clearer. During testing, Mythos reportedly identified hundreds of previously unknown vulnerabilities in widely used software. In one case, Mozilla used the system to uncover 271 flaws in its Firefox browser—some of which had gone undetected for years.
European officials are starting to acknowledge the problem. The European Commission has warned of a “significant imbalance” with the United States in AI. Greece’s finance minister, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, confirmed that access to Mythos has been requested—but so far, Europe has only received technical documentation, not the tool itself.
For years, Brussels has focused on writing rules for artificial intelligence before building a competitive industry of its own. The AI Act was meant to set global standards. But while Europe regulates, others are building the systems that matter.
That gap is no longer theoretical. As cyberattacks grow more sophisticated—Microsoft says it has blocked billions of fraud attempts in recent months—access to advanced detection tools is becoming a security issue.
Even European leaders are beginning to say so openly. Spain’s economy minister, Carlos Cuerpo, warned that the continent risks becoming a “second-tier region.”
Some in Brussels argue that Mythos’s limited rollout is also a commercial strategy. But that does not change the outcome. The most advanced tools are being built—and controlled—elsewhere.
If systems like Mythos become standard, Europe will not just fall behind. It will rely on others to protect its own infrastructure.
