{"slug": "us-firm-used-ai-to-hijack-wechat-account-spurring-call-for-cyber-cooperation", "title": "US firm used AI to hijack WeChat account, spurring call for cyber cooperation with China", "summary": "US security firm Calif said its AI system identified a critical flaw in Tencent Holdings' WeChat app in July, enabling remote account takeovers via unanswered voice calls, and Tencent patched the bug in late August. The experimental exploit, WeWorm, was developed in just over a week, highlighting how AI accelerates cyber threats and spurring calls for US-China cyber cooperation.", "body_md": "# US firm used AI to hijack WeChat account, spurring call for cyber cooperation with China\n\nThe flaw allowed for remote account takeovers without user interaction, prompting Tencent to patch the problem after Calif cybersecurity team flagged it\n\nUS cybersecurity researchers have demonstrated how artificial intelligence could help hijack WeChat accounts via unanswered voice calls, intensifying concerns about AI-driven cyber threats and prompting renewed calls for bilateral cooperation between the United States and China.\n\nUS security firm Calif said on Tuesday that its AI system identified a critical flaw in Tencent Holdings’ widely used messaging and payments app in July. In just a little over a week, researchers developed WeWorm – an experimental exploit that could allow an attacker to take full control of a target’s WeChat account via a simple voice call, without the victim ever picking up the phone.\n\nTencent patched the bug in late August, according to Calif, which alerted the Chinese tech giant.\n\nA Tencent spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that a server-side fix was deployed, requiring no user action, and noted there was no evidence that the vulnerability was ever exploited in the wild. Tencent added that it was “grateful to the researchers for bringing this to our attention and working with us”.\n\nThe experiment underscores the speed at which AI is accelerating cyber threats. A worm of this complexity previously required months of work from larger engineering teams, but Calif researchers noted that “AI can already do most of the work here”.\n\nThe findings left some analysts alarmed.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-firm-used-ai-to-hijack-wechat-account-spurring-call-for-cyber-cooperation", "canonical_source": "https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3366898/us-firm-used-ai-hijack-wechat-account-spurring-call-cyber-cooperation-china?utm_source=rss_feed", "published_at": "2026-09-09 08:01:12+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-09 09:07:54.425330+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-safety", "ai-policy"], "entities": ["Calif", "Tencent Holdings", "WeChat", "WeWorm"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-firm-used-ai-to-hijack-wechat-account-spurring-call-for-cyber-cooperation", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-firm-used-ai-to-hijack-wechat-account-spurring-call-for-cyber-cooperation.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-firm-used-ai-to-hijack-wechat-account-spurring-call-for-cyber-cooperation.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/us-firm-used-ai-to-hijack-wechat-account-spurring-call-for-cyber-cooperation.jsonld"}}