Japan Financial Firms to Join NEC-Anthropic AI Collaboration

Tokyo, June 11 (Jiji Press)--Major Japanese financial institutions, including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., will participate in a strategic collaboration between NEC Corp. and U.S. startup Anthropic, it was learned Thursday.

Under the collaboration announced in April, NEC and Anthropic aim to jointly develop artificial intelligence services tailored for operations in the financial, manufacturing and local government sectors.

In addition to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, major insurance and securities companies are expected to join the initiative in a bid to cooperate on AI security measures and financial services for customers.

Anthropic's powerful AI model, Claude Mythos, has sparked concern that it may be used to carry out cyberattacks, particularly in the financial sector.

Japan's three megabank lenders--MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Mizuho Bank--are believed to have gained access to Claude Mythos. Those joining the NEC-Anthropic project aim to further enhance their system security.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]