Qihoo 360 Security Technology, a Chinese cybersecurity firm, has introduced two AI tools designed for automated vulnerability hunting and cyber defense. The tools, named 'Tu Long Feng' and 'Yi Tian Zhen,' are marketed as China's answer to Anthropic's Mythos. According to the company, these tools are part of a broader effort to close the gap between Chinese and Western AI models in cybersecurity. Zhou Hongyi, the founder of Qihoo 360, emphasized that the gap between top Chinese models and the most capable Western systems is estimated to be 20 to 30 percent. To address this, 360 employs an agent-based approach that integrates AI models with security expertise and automated tools. Zhou argued that China cannot afford to wait for full model capabilities before starting vulnerability discovery. He warned that the U.S. could use Mythos to scan Chinese systems for vulnerabilities while China remains blind, creating an imbalance in the cybersecurity landscape. Zhou also highlighted the export ban on Anthropic's Fable 5 as evidence of the U.S. government's concern over potential access to Mythos-level capabilities. He suggested that the U.S. seeks to maintain a monopoly on such strategic assets, similar to its export controls on chips and Mythos. The rhetoric surrounding the AI tools draws parallels to Cold War-era nuclear deterrence, framing the cybersecurity race as a strategic competition. Zhou compared AI vulnerability hunting to cyber-nuclear weapons, calling for China to build an equivalent strategic deterrent. The U.S. government uses similar national security arguments to justify its own export controls on chips and Mythos. Both sides have traded accusations over cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, applying Cold War tactics to the AI domain. The names of 360's tools also hint at a war-like romanticism, possibly referencing a classic Chinese martial arts novel where legendary weapons grant their owners supremacy. Note: The Chinese transcript was translated using AI, and the excerpts were verified for accuracy using three additional AI systems. AI News Without the Hype – Curated by Humans to THE DECODER for ad-free reading, a weekly AI newsletter, our exclusive 'AI Radar' frontier report six times a year, full archive access, and access to our comment section. now

Source: thedecoder