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Mysten Labs tech chief joins Anthropic to work on AI security
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- DeepHorus
Sam Blackshear, co-founder and CTO of Mysten Labs, is joining Anthropic to work on defensive security research. He is stepping down from his role, with Mysten CEO Evan Cheng taking over technical vision. The announcement comes as artificial intelligence shifts the balance between attackers and defenders.
Mysten Labs, creator of the Sui blockchain, was founded in September 2021 by Blackshear and four other former Meta executives. Blackshear said he is happiest doing hands-on technical work while exploring new problem domains. He described the move as an opportunity to do both. He also said he is motivated to address security as AI is increasingly used to find vulnerabilities, automate phishing, and accelerate attacks on blockchain infrastructure.
In April, Blackshear hosted a panel on how AI coding agents are reshaping smart contract security. A turning point came when he used Anthropic's Claude to port a static analysis tool he built at Facebook to Move, Sui's smart contract language. The AI completed the port and flagged potential vulnerabilities, surprising him. He recalled that triage was previously manual and would have taken a long time.
Crypto firms are now seeking access to powerful frontier AI models, but many remain restricted to a small group of companies. Blackshear's move highlights the growing AI arms race in blockchain security. He described the situation as "getting scary." Attackers now have capable AI tools, placing defenders at a disadvantage.
Solana Foundation Chief Information Security Officer Michael Coates said guardrails for advanced models are understandable. However, he argued that verification and acceptance programs must be streamlined so legitimate defenders can get access. "We need to make sure that the best models we can get are in the hands of defenders," Coates said. He added that attackers will have something capable enough.
Blackshear's new role at Anthropic may boost defensive security research within the AI industry. Mysten Labs will continue under Evan Cheng's technical leadership, ensuring stability for the Sui ecosystem. The move signals a proactive approach to AI-driven security challenges. Demand for defender access to advanced AI models will likely increase.
