Anthropic model risks trigger market panic; cybersecurity sector declines across the board

According to Zhitong Finance APP, the cybersecurity sector in the U.S. stock market faced collective downward pressure on Friday, with shares of CrowdStrike (CRWD.US), Palo Alto Networks (PANW.US), and Zscaler (ZS.US) all falling over 5%, while Cloudflare (NET.US) dropped by about 3.2%. Meanwhile, the Global X Cybersecurity ETF (BUGG.US) once fell by 6.1%, with a cumulative decline exceeding 20% for the year.

This market drop was triggered by concerns raised by a media report. The report stated that an artificial intelligence model being tested by Anthropic could potentially be exploited by hackers to bypass existing cybersecurity defenses. The report cited an unpublished blog draft that claimed the company believes the model “may pose unprecedented cybersecurity risks.” The draft was made publicly accessible due to technical reasons, and Anthropic later confirmed that it is indeed testing a new model but did not respond to requests for further details.

The model is reportedly named “Claude Capybara” and is currently open for testing to only a few early users. Anthropic plans to share relevant testing results prior to the official release to help security companies strengthen their defenses in advance.

Analysts point out that the rapid evolution of AI technology is changing the landscape of cyber offense and defense. Bernstein analyst Peter Weed stated that Anthropic’s move aims to prevent its products from being maliciously exploited and is a “necessary and reasonable security measure.”

It is noteworthy that earlier this year, security incidents had already exposed related risks. Hackers used the Anthropic chatbot to launch attacks on Mexican government agencies, stealing tax and voter data. Anthropic subsequently stated that it had taken measures to prevent such actions and banned the involved accounts.

This is not the first time news related to Anthropic has caused fluctuations in the cybersecurity sector. Previously, the company released a tool that scans for code vulnerabilities and offers remediation suggestions, which also led to a general decline in security stocks, including CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks.

However, some Wall Street institutions still hold a positive outlook on the sector’s prospects. Analysts believe the market may be “overinterpreting” related news, and the current pullback actually provides an opportunity for positioning. Equity Armor Investments fund manager Joe Tigay stated that if AI does indeed present new security threats, the demand for leading cybersecurity companies will further increase.