Over 100 tech giants including OpenAI and Google warn time is running out to defend against AI threats

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and 100 other companies call for action to defend against rogue AI

Over a hundred tech companies -- including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft -- have signed an open letter urging both the private and public sectors to work together to defend themselves from AI-related cyber threats. The letter -- which was also signed by prominent cyber firms like Crowdstrike, Okta, and Fortinet, as well as prominent financial institutions and internet infrastructure firms -- calls for the adoption of new forms of cyber defense, while also encouraging governments at the "local, national, and international levels" to collaborate on security. "In the coming months, AJ-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." The problem AI poses to traditional cybersecurity defenses has been thrust into the spotlight lately by a string of bizarre incidents in which AI agents have attacked companies. The Hugging Face incident -- in which one of OpenAI's agents autonomously broke out of its sandboxed environment and attacked the tech company -- has been followed by a trail of other reported break-ins involving agents developed by other AI companies, including Anthropic and Meta. These incidents have bolstered the argument that the field of cybersecurity has been fundamentally altered and that bold new commercial solutions are necessary to mitigate them. The letter further suggests the mobilization of a "collective response," one in which "new partnerships" are formed "to raise security standards and find new solutions to emerging cyber threats." Several of the AI companies that have signed the letter are still actively developing ever more advanced AI models, highlighting their conflicted position. At the same time, they are also offering programs to use frontier AI models for defensive purposes, including OpenAI's Daybreak program, Anthropic's Mythos, and Microsoft's new cyber platform Perception.

Major tech companies call for defensive surge to defeat AI-driven hacks

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Major tech companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, and Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab are calling for a society-wide defensive surge to defeat what they describe as an impending wave of hacks driven by artificial intelligence. In a joint letter issued Thursday, opens new tab, the companies -- along with more than 100 others including Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab, Capital One (COF.N), opens new tab, Cloudflare (NET.N), opens new tab, CrowdStrike (CRWD.O), opens new tab, General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab, IBM (IBM.N), opens new tab, Mastercard (MA.N), opens new tab, Oracle (ORCL.N), opens new tab, Robinhood (HOOD.O), opens new tab, Shopify (SHOP.TO), opens new tab, ⁠and Visa (V.N), opens new tab -- said there was a limited amount of time "to make our digital world much more secure" ahead of the AI onslaught. "In the coming months, AI-enabled cyberattacks will become far more widespread as models around the world become increasingly capable," the letter said. It called on government and industry leaders "to bring the full weight of their technology, resources, and expertise ⁠to this effort." It called on governments to expedite trusted access programs, which give certain companies access to more powerful models ahead of the general public, and for all other organizations to "make cyber defense ⁠an immediate leadership priority." Fears that advances in AI will supercharge hacking campaigns are beginning to be realized as rogue elements increasingly deploy large ⁠language models to break into organizations around the world. In June, the world's "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance -- composed of the ⁠U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand -- issued a rare joint statement warning that the AI revolution was poised to "fundamentally transform" cybersecurity. Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Artificial Intelligence * Data Privacy * ADAS, AV & Safety * Software-Defined Vehicle Raphael Satter Thomson Reuters Reporter covering cybersecurity, surveillance, and disinformation for Reuters. Work has included investigations into state-sponsored espionage, deepfake-driven propaganda, and mercenary hacking.

'We have a limited window': 116 companies, entities sign on to major AI cyber defense push

* At least 100 technology, service and other companies signed a letter urging policymakers, and entities to "act decisively" to bolster cyber defenses. * Sophisticated AI models have upended the cyber industry and raised the need to combat agentic threats. * The letter urged a coordinated government effort to make cyber defense accessible to critical infrastructure like hospitals. In this article * AMD * ANTHR.FG * OPENAI.FG * MSFT * CRWD * PANW Follow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT Imen Ben Youssef | Afp | Getty Images OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices and more than 100 other companies and entities signed a letter on Thursday calling on businesses and policymakers to prioritize cybersecurity and "act decisively" to bolster defenses in the age of artificial intelligence. "We have a limited window to strengthen cyber defenses," the letter said. The group of 116 entities urged every organization to "raise the security bar" on defense tools, upgrade security systems and utilize a mix of low-cost and frontier models. The letter also called for a coordinated government effort to fund cyber defense and improve accessibility for under-resourced critical infrastructure like hospitals and water treatment plants, which have been major attack targets. The group of signatories includes cybersecurity leaders, financial services companies, semiconductor companies and cloud providers. The rise of sophisticated AI models, capable of orchestrating agentic attacks in minutes, has upended the cyber industry, cementing the need for better security tools to combat mounting AI threats. Amid this backdrop, cybersecurity companies have skyrocketed in value as businesses recognize the security need and have managed to brush off earlier disruption concerns that rattled the broader software sector this year. Cyber leaders CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks have more than doubled in value over the last year, and both Okta and CrowdStrike jumped double digits on Thursday after posting strong earnings on AI security momentum. Read more CNBC tech news watch now VIDEO2:4702:47 China has been drastically stepping up cyber attacks over the past few months: TrustedSec's Kennedy The Exchange Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.

Google, Microsoft and OpenAI among 100 firms calling for better cyber defences

A group of 100 firms, including Google, Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI, have signed an open letter calling on countries and organisations around the world to beef up their cyber defences before AI grows powerful enough to override them. The letter warns cyber-attacks which use AI will become both more widespread and more sophisticated in a matter of months as the technology rapidly improves. The group says current "status quo" security measures "won't be enough" and criticises the "historic under-resourcing" of security around critical infrastructure. "We have a limited window to improve cyber defences," the letter begins. Other firms to have signed the letter include banks such as Capital One, payment processors MasterCard and Visa, and other major tech firms including Adobe, Oracle and IBM. They call on governments to provide "capable, defensive AI" and testing to hospitals and water utilities. But it is also true that many of the most powerful AI have been developed by some of these companies - and they are not all easily available. Mythos, developed by Anthropic, was said by the firm to be able to find weaknesses in systems in seconds which have long evaded human hackers. It found one in a legacy platform which had remained undiscovered for 27 years. Anthropic has restricted access to Mythos on the grounds that it is too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. Meanwhile, a group of AI agents being tested by OpenAI in July were able to set up secret message boards to communicate with each other and work together, resulting in a successful attack on a rival company, Hugging Face - which has also signed the letter. The incident has been described as the world's first AI-enabled cyber-attack. Hugging Face used a Chinese AI tool from the firm Z.AI in its investigation into what happened. The letter includes a plea to governments, organisations, cyber-security professionals and other AI firms to work together to prioritise defence and test their systems against the abilities of the most powerful AI models. In the US, senators have proposed a new law call the Kill Switch Act which would give authorities the power to shut down rogue AI models. Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.

Tech giants warn time is running out to prepare for AI threats

Why it matters: Hospitals, water treatment plants and other critical infrastructure will face a swarm of hacking threats as AI makes sophisticated cyber capabilities cheaper and more accessible to attackers, the group write in an open letter. Driving the news: "We have a limited window to strengthen cyber defenses," the letter says. * The group is calling for "collective action" and urges organizations to use their shrinking window to secure critical infrastructure and make it more expensive and difficult for hackers using AI tools to break in. * Signatories include a range of cloud providers, cybersecurity companies, AI companies, telecoms and financial services companies and think tanks. Zoom in: The organizations lay out a plan for how all companies and governments, as well as cybersecurity and AI companies, need to adapt to prepare for the changing threat landscape. * Every organization needs to raise its internal security standards and fix its "highest-risk weaknesses." They also should "raise the security bar for what you buy, build, and deploy, including AI-generated code." * Cybersecurity and technology companies must quickly test and build out tools that make "AI-powered defense accessible and deployable for critical infrastructure operators." They also must share threat intelligence with one another, per the letter. * Governments need to strengthen channels for sharing actionable threat intelligence, coordinate defense at the local, national and international levels, and fund cyber defense. * Frontier AI companies should give defenders access to their most capable response models during major cyber incidents, along with "significant funding, training, and hands-on support," especially for critical infrastructure providers. The big picture: The open letter comes amid a wave of cyberattacks against critical infrastructure, including one targeting U.S. water systems with an apparent AI-generated exploitation script. * Critical infrastructure like water systems and power plants have long had vulnerabilities in the tools that power machinery, but hackers used to need to invest a large amount of time to understand the intricacies of those systems. * AI models are now drastically lowering how much time and energy hackers need to put into those preparations, experts previously told Axios. Yes, but: The signatories didn't make any commitments, deadlines or specific investments as part of the letter.

OpenAI Rallys 100+ Companies for a Global Cyber Defense Push

OpenAI is calling for a global surge in cyber defense, warning that increasingly capable artificial intelligence could soon make cyberattacks more widespread and sophisticated. More than 100 companies and organizations, including Anthropic, Microsoft, Google, Amazon Web Services, CrowdStrike, Cisco, Cloudflare and Palo Alto Networks, signed an open letter published by OpenAI calling for governments, technology companies and cybersecurity firms to work together to strengthen defenses. The letter argues that organizations have a limited window to improve cybersecurity before AI-enabled attacks become more advanced. Critical infrastructure, including hospitals, water treatment facilities and the systems that underpin the internet, could be particularly vulnerable. "Longstanding bugs, excessive permissions, misconfigurations, insecure and unpatched software, weak authentication, and technical debt in legacy systems have left systems exposed," the letter stated. The group is also urging organizations to use AI as a defensive tool, arguing that the technology can make cybersecurity work faster, cheaper and more accessible. That could include using AI to identify and fix vulnerabilities, continuously test defenses and help security teams respond to incidents. Markets Great Eastern Joins the Private Credit Rush, Commits $100M to Granite Asia Granite Asia has raised more than $500 million for its Pan-Asia private credit strategy, adding fresh backing from a major insurer. 2 min read Read this article The letter also calls for organizations to share verified fixes, threat intelligence and security playbooks so that improvements made by one company can benefit others. Trending The push comes as AI companies have increasingly focused on the technology's potential to transform both offensive and defensive cybersecurity. More capable models can help defenders automate routine security tasks, but the same capabilities could potentially give attackers new tools to discover vulnerabilities and launch attacks at greater scale. OpenAI and the other signatories are calling for action across four groups: individual organizations, cybersecurity companies and technology providers, governments, and frontier AI companies. Companies are being urged to make cybersecurity a leadership priority, address their highest-risk vulnerabilities and strengthen access controls and other basic defenses. They are also encouraged to scrutinize AI-generated code and replace or upgrade outdated systems where necessary. Cybersecurity companies, meanwhile, should continuously test defenses against advanced AI capabilities and make AI-powered security tools more accessible to operators of critical infrastructure, according to the letter. Governments have a role in coordinating threat intelligence and incident response while providing funding and defensive AI capabilities to organizations that lack the staff or resources to protect themselves. The letter specifically points to hospitals, water utilities and local governments as areas where additional support is needed. Frontier AI companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic are being asked to provide responsible access to their models, funding, training and hands-on support for under-resourced defenders. The letter also calls on them to invest in authorized security testing and share threat assessments and defensive tools with governments, security firms and open-source developers. The broad coalition reflects a growing recognition within the technology industry that AI-driven cybersecurity risks cannot be addressed by any single company. The signatories argue that the same advances making cyberattacks more capable can instead be harnessed to strengthen defenses -- if organizations move quickly enough. "Together, we can turn today's AI advances into lasting improvements in security that benefit everyone," the letter said. Markets KKR Hit With $250 Million Penalty Over Antitrust Violations KKR & Co. is set to pay a $250 million civil penalty after the private equity firm allegedly violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. 2 min read Read this article This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Top tech companies urge global response against AI cyber threats - The Korea Times

The letter calls on governments to coordinate cyber defense at local, national, and international levels, including intelligence sharing and funding support. SAN FRANCISCO -- More than 100 organizations around the world, including ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and rival Anthropic, have signed an open letter calling for a global effort to "strengthen cyber defenses" against AI-powered cybersecurity threats. "We have a limited window to strengthen cyber defenses," the letter says. "In the coming months, AI-enabled cyber attacks will become far more widespread and sophisticated as models around the world become increasingly capable." Concerns have increased in recent months about the capabilities of increasingly advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models, including those made by OpenAI and Anthropic, two of the world's leading AI developers. In mid-July, two OpenAI models escaped their confined testing environment and gained access to the internet, where they found and attacked Hugging Face, a site that AI developers use to store and share code. Anthropic later discovered that its models had also gained unauthorized access to three unnamed organizations during testing that was supposed to keep them away from "real-world" systems. The open letter published on Thursday calls for a "collective response" that includes recognizing that current cybersecurity measures are inadequate and that AI-powered tools are needed for defending against new threats. Technology providers should "help lead the response," the letter says. It also calls on governments to "coordinate cyber defense at local, national, and international levels," including sharing intelligence and providing funding for various efforts. Likewise, so-called frontier AI developers -- companies building the most powerful generative AI -- should "provide responsible model access, significant funding, training, and hands-on support," in addition to improving testing processes. The letter does not include suggestions for any specific amounts of funding or monetary commitments for these objectives.