Federal Reserve Faces AI Risk and Political Threats to Independence

In April 2026 the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury convened bank CEOs to warn about a novel cybersecurity AI model, Claude Mythos Preview, built by Anthropic. The tool, part of the Project Glasswing initiative, was distributed to selected financial institutions but the Fed itself was denied access for at least three months, highlighting a regulatory information gap in overseeing high‑risk AI used in banking.

Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen later cautioned that the Fed’s independence is under political pressure, citing attempts by former President Donald Trump to remove a Fed director and to use the Justice Department to threaten the central bank. She also highlighted rising oil prices near $100 a barrel as a serious inflationary risk, warning that persistent price shocks could erode price‑expectation anchoring.