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Anthropic's artificial intelligence models are the talk of the financial world -- again. And they're giving bankers plenty to worry about.

For the past several years, cybersecurity companies have promised that AI will speed up and automate some of the work of preventing digital breaches. But hackers and cyberspies have discovered they can exploit AI, too. The advent of Anthropic's Mythos and other models like it that can take advantage of well-hidden flaws in popular software without human supervision points to a less predictable phase of the cyber arms race, Bloomberg's Andrew Martin explains in this story.

Anthropic says Mythos is so powerful that it has decided not to release it to the public. The company explained that some AI models have reached a level of coding capability that allows them to beat all but the most skilled humans at finding software vulnerabilities.

That's potentially a big problem for the banks and financial firms to which we entrust some of our most sensitive and important data. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell summoned the biggest names in global finance to a meeting to discuss the matter this week.

Now Canada's regulators have done the same. As reported first by Bloomberg News, the so-called Canadian Financial Sector Resiliency Group held a meeting Friday to talk about AI and cybersecurity.

It's a body that includes everyone who counts in the industry. The Big Six banks are there, as are Desjardins, TMX Group, the Bank of Canada, representatives of the payments sector and most of the financial regulators you can think of.

The group is co-chaired by the chief information security officers of the Bank of Canada and National Bank and the central bank's chief operating officer. Serious people, for serious matters. -- Erik Hertzberg and Derek Decloet

Also in today's newsletter: A jobs report best described as "meh". An unusual indicator of good times in Calgary's energy sector.

The following was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Top stories

The Canadian labor market is far from thriving, despite a modest increase in employment last month and the jobless rate holding steady at 6.7%. The economy added 14,100 jobs, an increase that was driven by the services sector -- including personal and repair services -- as well as 10,000 new jobs in natural resources. "This is not a job-seekers' market," Brendon Bernard, senior economist at Indeed.com, said on BNN Bloomberg Television. While the report was largely in line with expectations, wage growth last month surprised forecasters, increasing at an annual rate of 5.1% for permanent employees.

US President Donald Trump ramped up pressure on Iran as Vice President JD Vance traveled to Pakistan for talks to end the war, with Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon and the Strait of Hormuz's effective closure looming over diplomatic efforts. Trump posted on social media today that Tehran's only leverage is "short term extortion of the world by using International Waterways" -- a reference to Hormuz, a critical shipping lane for oil and natural gas that remains largely shut, raising global energy prices. Trump declared that the "Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards."

A record-earning auction to put company logos on chuckwagons for the Calgary Stampede is a signal of economic optimism in Canada's oil patch and the potential prosperity that an upswing in oil prices brings. Companies bid a collective C$6.1 million ($4.4 million) to put their names on the canvas covers of chuckwagons that will compete at this summer's Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby, a fast-paced rodeo event where drivers race horse-drawn wagons around a track. The previous record of around C$4 million was set in 2012.

Markets and commodities

Oil edged lower in relatively light trading before highly-anticipated talks between Iran and the US, negotiations that will dictate the path ahead for their fragile truce. West Texas Intermediate fell 1.3% to settle below $97 a barrel, with futures down about 13.4% this week, the biggest retreat in six years. Crude markets have been extremely turbulent since the war began in late February and prices remain more than 30% above pre-conflict levels.

Rio Tinto Group has drawn interest from more than a dozen potential bidders for its US assets that produce the critical mineral boron, according to people familiar with the matter. The Anglo-Australian mining company could fetch around $2 billion for the assets.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.7% and has risen for three consecutive weeks. Mining, real estate and energy shares were the biggest winners of Friday's session. Telecom shares dropped again after Cogeco Communications' poor earnings report.

Before you go...

After nearly six weeks of war, how did Pakistan manage to get the United States and Iran to talk? Maleeha Lodhi was Pakistan's ambassador to the US on 9/11, a moment that reset the relationship between the two countries. Now, she says, personal relationships have made Islamabad the region's only viable peace broker. For her, this weekend's peace talks also carry wider significance, as middle powers take on a larger role in shaping global politics. Mishal Husain interviewed Lodhi for her podcast.

Anthropic's Powerful AI Models Spark Urgent Talks in Finance Industry