Facepalm: It appears that the US government isn’t completely against American agencies using technology from Anthropic, a company it designated a “supply chain risk” earlier this year. According to a new report, the NSA is using the AI firm’s Mythos model “for offensive cyber operations.”

The Financial Times reports that Anthropic has installed half a dozen engineers inside the NSA as forward-deployed staff. Their job is said to involve guiding the agency’s use of Claude Mythos and customizing the model for specific applications.

It remains unclear whether the Anthropic employees are helping with live hacking operations, or if Mythos is being used in active campaigns. But one person close to the arrangement told the FT that the model would be useful for infiltrating networks in countries such as China and Iran. The logic is that US adversaries are likely to be using cyber-focused AI systems of their own, making an early advantage important.