Anthropic has started a program to support security companies protecting critical infrastructure such as power grids and water facilities with frontier models and on-site engineers, SiliconANGLE reported on Oct. 8 local time.

Anthropic also rolled out an open-source “OSS Scanner” that can check open-source project vulnerabilities for free, alongside a “Critical Infrastructure Defense Program.”

The Critical Infrastructure Defense Program has 11 founding partners. They include consulting firms such as Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte and PwC, and security companies including Dragos, Nozomi Networks, CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks. Hitachi and Rockwell Automation joined as manufacturers that build industrial equipment and provide security patches.

The program targets operational technology used at power plants, substations and water facilities. Because such equipment has been in operation for decades, it is difficult to shut down for patching. Known vulnerabilities can be left unaddressed for years. Anthropic said multiple partners are already fixing vulnerabilities with Claude. It did not disclose whether partners use the model for free or who pays computing costs.

The OSS Scanner is a service built from a tool used by Anthropic employees. Anthropic said it could have errors, such as incorrect severity ratings.

Anthropic expects AI to be used to the advantage of defenders rather than attackers within 2 years. But it explained that while the cost of exploiting vulnerabilities continues to fall, validation and fixes still rely on people.