A.I.

AI hacking is here — and it will only get more dangerous

Some AI tools are becoming autonomous operators capable of executing attacks at speeds and scales that human hackers simply cannot match

ByJackie Snow

Published December 22, 2025|Updated 10 hours ago

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Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s AI & Tech newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest AI & tech news, analysis and insights straight to your inbox.

For years, security researchers warned that artificial intelligence would eventually transform cyberattacks. The first real examples have arrived.

In the past two months, a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group used Anthropic's Claude to orchestrate a cyber espionage campaign against roughly 30 global targets, including major tech companies, financial institutions, and government agencies. Pro-Ukrainian hackers deployed AI-generated decoy documents to infiltrate Russian defense contractors. And a Stanford experiment found that an AI system called Artemis outperformed nine out of 10 professional penetration testers at finding vulnerabilities in the university's engineering network.

The common thread is that AI tools have crossed a threshold. They're no longer just helpful assistants for writing phishing emails or generating code snippets.........

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