China scrambles to close AI security gap as Anthropic, OpenAI pull ahead with new models
Anthropic's Mythos sparks global response; China's market eyes $8.7B by 2030
Anthropic's Mythos, released in April 2026, has reshaped the global cybersecurity landscape by demonstrating an unmatched ability to autonomously discover and exploit vulnerabilities. This rapid capability forced a global response, but China's domestic AI security models are still far behind, according to IDC China senior research manager Austin Zhao. He noted that while a Chinese equivalent of Mythos will eventually emerge, current models lack comparable speed and efficiency.
IDC projects China's AI cybersecurity industry will grow from 1.58 billion yuan in 2025 to 59.35 billion yuan (US$8.7 billion) by 2030—a 37-fold increase. This growth is fueled by local vendors integrating AI into security operations, data protection, and threat intelligence. Despite the gap, Zhao emphasized that Chinese model capabilities are rapidly improving, and the industry trend is inevitable as vendors intensify AI adoption.
- Anthropic's Mythos (April 2026) can discover and exploit cybersecurity vulnerabilities at unprecedented speed
- IDC projects China's AI cybersecurity market to reach $8.7B by 2030, up 37x from 2025
- Chinese domestic models still significantly lag Mythos, but rapid improvement is expected per IDC
Why It Matters
The AI security arms race intensifies as China races to close a widening gap with US leaders like Anthropic.