Major technology companies are urging governments and businesses to mount a coordinated push to strengthen cyberattacks, warning that increasingly capable artificial intelligence models could make cyberattacks significantly more widespread in the coming months. OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon are among more than 100 companies that have backed the call for a society-wide response to the emerging threat.
In a joint letter issued on Thursday, the companies said the window to make the digital ecosystem more secure is narrowing as AI capabilities continue to advance. The signatories include companies across technology, finance and cybersecurity, such as Broadcom, Capital One, Cloudflare, CrowdStrike, IBM, Mastercard, Oracle, Shopify and Visa.
AI Is Changing the Economics of Cyberattacks
The concern extends beyond the use of AI for relatively familiar activities such as generating phishing messages or malicious code. As AI models become more capable, attackers could potentially automate and accelerate multiple stages of an intrusion, lowering the technical barrier required to conduct sophisticated campaigns.
The companies warned that AI-enabled attacks are expected to become far more widespread as models around the world grow more capable. The development is also unfolding alongside growing evidence that AI systems can be repurposed for offensive cyber activity, adding urgency to the industry’s call for stronger defensive capabilities.
Industry Wants Governments to Act Faster
The coalition is calling on governments to expedite programmes that provide vetted organisations with trusted access to more advanced AI models for cybersecurity purposes. Such access, the companies argue, could allow defenders to use increasingly capable AI systems to identify vulnerabilities, strengthen security and respond to emerging threats before attackers gain the advantage.
The letter also asks organisations outside the technology sector to make cyber defence an immediate leadership priority. That shifts cybersecurity further away from being treated purely as an IT or security function and towards becoming a broader enterprise and national resilience issue.
Critical Infrastructure Faces Greater Exposure
The warning carries particular weight for sectors that underpin essential services, including healthcare, finance, energy and other critical infrastructure. A successful AI-enabled campaign against these systems could potentially be executed at greater speed and scale than conventional attacks.
Recent incidents and investigations have already highlighted the growing complexity of the threat landscape. U.S. authorities, for instance, said this week that a Chinese hacking operation had targeted government agencies and other sensitive organisations, including the Federal Reserve, NASA and healthcare-related entities.
The AI-vs-AI Security Race
The technology industry’s response points to an emerging reality: the same advances making AI more useful to businesses can also make it more useful to attackers. That is creating pressure for cybersecurity teams to deploy AI not simply as another security tool, but as part of a broader effort to automate detection, analyse threats and shorten response times.
For enterprises, the warning is increasingly about preparedness rather than prediction. Organisations may need to reassess how quickly they can detect anomalous activity, secure identities and privileged access, contain compromised systems and respond when an attack moves faster than conventional incident-response processes.
The industry’s message is therefore straightforward: AI is accelerating the cyber threat, and defensive capabilities cannot afford to move at yesterday’s pace. The coming months could determine how effectively organisations close that gap.
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