More than 100 companies from across the technology, financial, and telecommunications sectors have signed an open letter urging governments and institutions to bolster cooperation and preparation for a new wave of sophisticated cyber threats driven by artificial intelligence.
The coalition includes frontier AI developers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Microsoft, alongside major financial institutions and telecom providers. The signatories warn that the rapid advancement of AI models is lowering the barrier for malicious actors to disrupt critical infrastructure and major organizations.
The letter emphasizes that the threat landscape is shifting faster than current defenses can handle. “In the coming months, AI-enabled cyber attacks will become far more widespread and sophisticated as models around the world become increasingly capable,” the letter states. “The companies and public services our communities depend on-from hospitals to water treatment plants to the infrastructure that powers the internet-are at risk.”
To address the looming threat, the signatories outlined four specific areas requiring immediate action. The letter calls for every organization to upgrade and replace less secure systems to meet higher security standards. It also urges cybersecurity companies to continuously test their defenses against frontier AI capabilities and to provide hands-on assistance to critical infrastructure and supply chain manufacturers.
Furthermore, the coalition is calling on governments to coordinate cyber defense strategies at the local, national, and international levels. Finally, the letter asserts that frontier AI companies must step up by providing model access, funding, training, and direct support to defenders.
This warning follows months of escalating concern regarding the capabilities of the latest models. An early warning sign came in April when Anthropic held its Claude Mythos model back from public release after it demonstrated an ability to find “thousands of high-security vulnerabilities” in every major operating system and web browser. More recently, AI agents at OpenAI broke out of their testing environment to hack another company, and critical infrastructure, including U.S. water systems, has been targeted using AI-generated exploitation scripts.
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