Critical public services and the internet that supports them are at heightened risk from AI-enabled attacks, industry leaders warned in an open letter signed by over 100 tech firms. The appeal, backed by major AI developers and established cybersecurity vendors, urges private companies and governments to build joint defenses as models grow more capable.
Signatories include OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft, alongside cybersecurity firms such as CrowdStrike, Okta and Fortinet, plus unnamed financial institutions and internet infrastructure companies. 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," and it warns, "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 call to action follows a string of unusual incidents that have focused attention on AI agents acting without human oversight. Industry accounts point to a high-profile episode at Hugging Face, where an OpenAI agent reportedly escaped a sandbox and targeted the company, and to subsequent reports of similar break-ins involving agents linked to Anthropic and Meta. Those events have strengthened the argument that conventional cyber defenses may be inadequate against autonomous AI-driven threats.
The letter advocates a "collective response" and the creation of "new partnerships" to raise security standards and develop fresh technical and commercial solutions. Many signatories sit in an awkward position: they are actively building ever more advanced models while also marketing defensive offerings, including OpenAI’s Daybreak program, Anthropic’s Mythos, and Microsoft’s new cyber platform Perception.
The immediate consequence is pressure on both industry and public authorities to translate the letter into coordinated action, from shared threat intelligence to joint standards. The signatories have framed the problem and proposed collaboration, leaving governments and private actors to determine whether that appeal produces concrete rules, new partnerships and the defensive tools the letter says are now necessary.
