An Unprecedented Coalition
On August 27, more than 100 of the world's largest technology companies issued a joint letter calling on governments and industry leaders to mount a "society-wide defensive surge" against AI-powered cyberattacks. The coalition spans the full stack of the technology industry: AI model makers (OpenAI, Anthropic), cloud providers (Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon), chipmakers (Broadcom), cybersecurity firms (CrowdStrike, Cloudflare), financial institutions (Capital One, Mastercard, Visa, Robinhood), and enterprise software companies (IBM, Oracle, Shopify).
"In the coming months, AI-enabled cyberattacks will become far more widespread as models around the world become increasingly capable," the letter warned. It urged governments to expedite trusted access programs — mechanisms that give companies early access to more capable AI models for defensive purposes — and called on all organizations to "make cyber defense an immediate leadership priority."
The Threat Is Real and Accelerating
The letter reflects growing alarm across the industry that AI is not only a defensive tool but an offensive one. In June, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance — the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — issued a rare joint statement warning that the AI revolution was poised to "fundamentally transform" cybersecurity, both for defenders and attackers.
Rogue actors are already deploying large language models to break into organizations. AI-powered phishing campaigns can now generate highly personalized, grammatically perfect emails at scale. Automated vulnerability scanning tools built on foundation models can probe networks faster than human teams can respond. And the barrier to entry for sophisticated attacks is falling as open-weight models become more capable.
Why Now
The timing reflects a narrow window of opportunity. As AI models become more capable, they also become more useful for both offense and defense. The signatories are arguing that the next few months are critical — if defensive capabilities don't keep pace, the asymmetry between attackers and defenders will widen dangerously.
The letter also pushes back against the notion that AI safety is primarily about existential risk or content moderation. Here, the focus is pragmatic and immediate: the digital infrastructure that underpins modern life is increasingly vulnerable, and AI is both the cause and the potential solution.
What They're Asking For
The coalition's demands are specific:
1. Governments should accelerate trusted access programs, giving cybersecurity professionals access to the most capable AI models before they are broadly available to the public. 2. Industry leaders should treat cyber defense as a C-suite priority, not just an IT problem. 3. Organizations should invest in AI-powered defensive tools now, before the next wave of attacks arrives.
The letter does not call for regulation of AI models themselves — a notable omission that reflects the signatories' preference for defensive investment over offensive restriction.
