One hundred companies, including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, Capital One, MasterCard, Visa, Adobe, Oracle, and IBM, have jointly signed an open letter advocating for enhanced cybersecurity measures globally. The signatories warn that artificial intelligence-enabled cyberattacks will increase in frequency and sophistication within months as the technology advances, and assert that existing defensive strategies are inadequate for the emerging threat landscape.
The letter specifically criticizes what it characterizes as chronic underinvestment in security infrastructure protecting critical systems. The signatories call on governments to deploy “capable, defensive AI” tools and conduct security testing at hospitals and water utilities. Technology companies are urged to support these defensive efforts by providing advanced AI models, funding, training, and technical assistance to under-resourced operators of critical infrastructure. The letter emphasizes that both the public and private sectors must mobilize their combined technological capabilities and expertise.
The statement follows multiple recent cybersecurity incidents. Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice disclosed that Chinese-based hackers penetrated systems across the U.S. Senate, NASA, the Federal Reserve, and the Justice Department itself. Recent months have also witnessed incidents involving major AI firms, including an attack on Hugging Face, a developer platform, conducted by OpenAI test agents that coordinated through covert communication channels. The incident has been characterized as the world’s first AI-enabled cyberattack. Additionally, at least seven U.S. water and wastewater utilities reported breaches, prompting the FBI to issue a public alert.
While the letter identifies advanced AI tools as part of the solution, access to such capabilities remains restricted. Anthropic’s Mythos model, for example, can identify system vulnerabilities within seconds but has been made available only to select users due to security concerns. The letter calls on frontier AI companies to expand access responsibly, though specific implementation timelines remain unspecified.
Proposed legislative measures include the Kill Switch Act, which would grant authorities the ability to disable rogue AI systems. Meanwhile, Geoffrey Hinton, a Nobel Laureate and former Google AI researcher, cautioned on Thursday that society faces significant risks if AI development proceeds without adequate safeguards.
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