OpenAI and more than 100 major technology, cybersecurity, banking and infrastructure companies have called for an urgent global push to strengthen cyber defenses, warning that AI-enabled attacks are likely to become far more widespread and sophisticated in the coming months.
The open letter, signed by companies including Microsoft, Google, Anthropic, AWS, AMD, Cisco, CrowdStrike, Cloudflare, Visa, Mastercard, Citi and Deutsche Telekom, argues that organizations have only a limited window to harden systems before more capable AI tools give attackers greater speed, scale and sophistication.
The warning is aimed not just at technology companies, but at the services people rely on every day, including hospitals, water treatment plants, local governments and the infrastructure underpinning the internet.
The signatories said years of unpatched software, weak authentication, excessive permissions, misconfigurations and technical debt have left many systems exposed, while security teams protecting critical infrastructure remain underfunded and understaffed.
Defenders urged to use AI before attackers scale
The group said the same AI advances that could make cyberattacks more dangerous can also give defenders a chance to strengthen systems faster than before.
Organizations are being urged to treat cyber defense as an immediate leadership priority, fix their most serious weaknesses and raise security standards for software they buy, build and deploy, including AI-generated code.
The letter also calls for broader use of cyber-capable AI to help security teams detect weaknesses, test defenses and verify fixes, while reserving the most advanced models for harder problems.
Cybersecurity companies and technology providers were asked to make AI-powered defense more accessible, particularly for critical infrastructure operators, while sharing threat intelligence, tested playbooks and practical fixes.
Governments and AI companies face pressure to act
Governments were urged to increase funding for essential services with limited cyber budgets, improve international threat-intelligence sharing and give hospitals, utilities and local authorities access to advanced defensive tools and authorized security testing.
Frontier AI companies, meanwhile, were called on to provide model access, funding, training and hands-on support to under-resourced defenders, while improving monitoring tools and making AI-agent identities more traceable and accountable.
The coalition also wants closer cooperation between governments, security providers, AI developers and infrastructure operators rather than leaving individual organizations to respond alone.
The group’s central warning is that the window may not stay open for long, as the same AI capabilities now helping defenders could soon give attackers a much bigger advantage.
The signatories said coordinated action now could turn the current wave of AI development into a lasting improvement in digital security rather than another advantage for cybercriminals.