OpenAI CEO Sam Altman pushed back against growing alarm over rival Anthropic’s powerful new AI model Claude Mythos, suggesting the company is using “fear” to market the product.
“You can justify that in a lot of different ways, and some of it’s real, like there are going to be legitimate safety concerns," Altman said.
“But if what you want is like 'we need control of AI, just us, because we’re the trustworthy people', I think fear-based marketing is probably the most effective way to justify that."
Altman added that while there are valid concerns about AI safety, "it is clearly incredible marketing to say: 'We have built a bomb. We are about to drop it on your head. We will sell you a bomb shelter for $100 million. You need it to run across all your stuff, but only if we pick you as a customer.'"
He noted that it was “not always easy” to balance AI’s new capabilities with OpenAI’s belief that the technology should be accessible.
Anthropic’s Claude MythosThe rollout reflects a broader divide in the AI industry over how powerful systems should be deployed, with some companies emphasizing controlled access and others arguing for wider distribution to accelerate innovation and understanding of the technology.
Anthropic has restricted access to the system via Project Glasswing, granting select companies including Amazon, Apple and Microsoft the ability to test its capabilities. The company has also committed significant resources to supporting open-source security efforts, arguing that defenders should benefit from the technology before it becomes more widely available.
Altman suggested that rhetoric around highly dangerous AI systems may increase as capabilities improve, but argued that not all such claims should be taken at face value.
“There will be a lot more rhetoric about models that are too dangerous to release. There will also be very dangerous models that will have to be released in different ways,” he said. “I’m sure Mythos is a great model for cybersecurity but I think we have a plan we feel good about for how we put this kind of capability out into the world.”
Altman also dismissed suggestions that OpenAI is scaling back its infrastructure spending, saying the company would continue expanding its computing capacity despite shifting narratives.
“I don’t know where that’s coming from… people really want to write the story of pulling back,” he said. “But very soon it will be again, like, ‘OpenAI is so reckless. How can they be spending this crazy amount?’”
