By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the global economy is on the cusp of a major spending spree by companies and organizations to bolster cybersecurity gaps exposed by artificial-intelligence models like Anthropic's Mythos.

Those cybersecurity-related expenditures pose a structural inflationary pressure that economies must grapple with, alongside infrastructure spending related to data centers and the retreat from globalization, the Canadian leader and former central banker said to an audience at the Economic Club of New York.

Some central banks, like the Bank of Canada which Carney previously led, set interest rates at a level to contain inflation. For Canada, rates are set to achieve and maintain 2% inflation. Increased spending on cybersecurity could leave companies with added costs which they might try to recover through higher prices for their goods ands services.

"Everyone knows what Mythos is in this room," Carney said, referring to Anthropic's latest AI model that the company--after previewing it with select partners--said found more than 10,000 severe to critical vulnerabilities across important software systems. The findings, Carney said, indicate the global economy is in "the early stage of a big operating spend that's going to be required to address those" vulnerabilities.

He added that the marginal cost of software, or the price tag associated with serving an additional customer, has climbed from near zero to "actually something material, and is likely there [at that level] for some time."

Earlier on Thursday, the Bank of Canada issued its annual financial-stability report, and officials warned that risks posed by AI are intensifying. The report said AI may increase cybersecurity risks across the financial system, and that will require more frequent and time-compressed software updates.

"These cyber and operational risks are amplified by the widespread reliance of financial institutions on shared systems, vendors and infrastructure. A cyber attack on any of these shared systems could have significant repercussions," the central bank said.

Write to Paul Vieira at paul.vieira@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 28, 2026 13:45 ET (17:45 GMT)

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