After dissing Anthropic for limiting Mythos, OpenAI restricts access to Cyber, too

The Irony of Limited Releases

After Sam Altman publicly criticized Anthropic for gatekeeping its cybersecurity tool Mythos by only releasing it to select users, he confirmed that OpenAI would be doing the same with its competing tool, Cyber.

Key Details

• Restricted Rollout: Altman announced in a post on X that OpenAI will begin rolling out GPT-5.5 Cyber "to critical cyber defenders" in the next few days
• Application Process: OpenAI has an application on its website where people submit information about their credentials and planned use to gain access
• Capabilities: Cyber can perform tasks including:
  • Penetration testing
  • Vulnerability identification and exploitation
  • Malware reverse engineering

The Context of Altman's Earlier Criticism

When Anthropic similarly restricted access to Mythos, Altman called the tactic "fear-based marketing." Critics also thought Anthropic's rhetoric was overblown. Ironically, an unauthorized group reportedly managed to gain access to Mythos anyway.

OpenAI's Justification

OpenAI says it's working to make Cyber more widely available by:

• Consulting with the U.S. government
• Identifying more users with legitimate cybersecurity credentials

The Security Concern

The fear is that these powerful cybersecurity toolkits could be misused by bad actors, which is why both companies are taking a cautious approach to distribution—despite the competitive posturing between them.