The Indian government is pushing for Anthropic to host its advanced AI models, including Claude, on servers located within India, as concerns grow over cybersecurity and data sovereignty Moneycontrol reported quoting sources. Officials believe sensitive AI systems used in banking, telecom, and critical infrastructure should not rely entirely on foreign-hosted servers because of security, legal, and national interest concerns.
The concern has grown around Anthropic’s powerful new AI model called Claude Mythos. This model is designed to detect serious cybersecurity weaknesses in software systems. While that can help companies fix security gaps, officials worry that if such technology is misused or accessed without proper control, it could create major risks for India’s financial system and digital infrastructure.
Last month, Anthropic’s India team held virtual meetings with officials from the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and CERT-In. These discussions focused on access to the Mythos model, understanding its cyber risks, and reviewing Anthropic’s overall security protections. Officials wanted clarity on how the model works and whether India would get secure and independent access.
Government officials are especially worried because Anthropic has not clearly promised India-specific hosting or guaranteed full access for Indian institutions. Since sectors like banks and telecom handle highly sensitive public data, India wants stronger control over where this AI is hosted and how it is used. Authorities believe depending completely on overseas infrastructure may create compliance problems and possible national security threats.
The issue is becoming bigger as regulators and financial institutions raise alerts about advanced AI risks. The IMF has also warned that such frontier AI models could create “systemic” shocks if cyber vulnerabilities spread across shared systems. Indian banks like Punjab National Bank have already increased cybersecurity spending because of these concerns.
India’s push for sovereign AI hosting shows that the government wants stronger digital control before allowing powerful foreign AI systems into critical sectors. The focus is not only on innovation, but also on making sure national security and data protection remain safe.
