BT has confirmed that it has joined Project Glasswing, an initiative led by Anthropic that brings together organisations responsible for critical infrastructure. The move makes BT the first company in the UK to publicly confirm participation in the program. Through the membership, BT gains access to Claude Mythos Preview, described as Anthropic’s frontier AI model. The company said the arrangement will reinforce its cyber security capabilities and help improve protection for both its networks and customers.

Project Glasswing is designed to support organisations that manage systems and data underpinning services used by millions of people. The initiative enables trusted participants to use Anthropic’s AI technology to identify weaknesses in digital environments more quickly and address them before they can be exploited. BT said this capability will strengthen its defences against evolving cyber security risks, including threats connected to advances in artificial intelligence.

The announcement was made by BT Chief Executive Allison Kirkby during the opening of the UK Government’s AI Adoption Summit. The event was focused on encouraging wider use of artificial intelligence across the UK economy while promoting safe and responsible deployment. Senior government figures participating in the summit included Chancellor Rachel Reeves, DSIT Secretary Liz Kendall, Business Secretary Peter Kyle, Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo, and Minister for AI and Online Safety Kanishka Narayan.

During her remarks, Kirkby highlighted the role of secure and resilient connectivity in enabling AI growth. She stated that large-scale AI deployment depends on networks that are prepared for future demands while maintaining strong standards of security, safety, and reliability. She also reiterated BT’s commitment to working with government on the development and implementation of sovereign British AI capabilities, while positioning the company as both a facilitator of responsible AI adoption and a user of the technology.

BT linked its participation in Project Glasswing to its responsibilities in protecting critical national infrastructure and its position as a provider of managed security services. The company said it currently stops four million cyber-attacks every day across its networks, illustrating both the scale of current threats and the need for continued advancement in cyber defence. BT Business Chief Executive Officer Jon James said the rapid evolution of AI is reshaping cyber security and that joining the initiative will strengthen protection for BT, its customers, and the broader UK. The company also noted that it already delivers AI-powered cyber security services and recently announced work with Accenture to develop AI-driven cyber operations capable of responding to threats at machine speed.

📊 What This Means (Our Analysis)

This development stands out because it combines cyber security, critical infrastructure protection, and advanced artificial intelligence within a single initiative. The announcement signals a clear focus on strengthening defensive capabilities before emerging threats can be exploited, aligning technological progress with practical security outcomes.

The broader importance lies in BT’s effort to pair AI adoption with responsible implementation. The company’s emphasis on secure networks, national infrastructure protection, and collaboration around AI capability suggests a model where innovation and security advance together rather than being treated as separate priorities.

📌 Our Take: Access to frontier AI tools for cyber defence reflects a growing focus on anticipating threats rather than simply reacting to them.