Tech companies write open letter calling for collective action against AI-enabled cyber attacks

More than 100 companies have written an open letter calling for collective action to strengthen cyber defences amid a rise in AI-enabled cyber attacks.

The companies, including tech heavyweights OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Microsoft warn of a "limited window to strengthen cyber-defences", saying that the attacks "will become far more widespread and sophisticated as models from around the world become increasingly capable", putting companies and public services at risk.

The group says "status quo security won't be enough", adding that security teams have been historically under-resourced and "need a surge in tools and resources" to tackle AI cyber attacks.

It also calls for defenders to be "empowered" with cyber-capable AI, with specialist skills to help security teams protect organisations, as well as a global response to find new solutions to emerging cyber threats.

The letter called on organisations to make cyber defence an immediate leadership priority and for governments to coordinate cyber defence at local, national and international levels, including intelligence sharing and giving public services access to capable defensive AI.

It's also calling on cybersecurity companies to make AI-powered defence accessible for critical infrastructure, and for AI companies to provide model access and training for defenders.

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The letter comes amid a rise in cyber attacks, including on Thursday when 8.7 million people's data held in three UK airports was stolen.

National Cybersecurity Centre head Richard Horne previously told Sky News AI models like Mythos are "warning shots" about the dangers of AI, saying new models were not finding new attacks, but instead "exposing more security vulnerabilities".

In June, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance - comprising the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - issued a rare joint statement warning of swift action to remain ahead of AI-powered cyber risks, as it called for organisations to use AI to strengthen defences.

In July, OpenAI - the company behind ChatGPT - revealed that some of the models they were testing managed to escape containment and break into a firm called Hugging Face, a platform used to host open-source large language models and datasets.

(c) Sky News 2026: Tech companies write open letter calling for collective action against AI-enabled cyber attack