The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has warned that artificial intelligence-powered digital nuclear weapons could increase rivalries between already warring nations. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said that “AI tools will only continue to raise the stakes in our competition with all of America’s adversaries.”

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It would be “not misplaced to refer to their capabilities as akin to digital nuclear weapons,” he added, citing discussions within the administration of United States President Donald Trump.

Ratcliffe further claimed that rival nations “work to steal and to manipulate America’s advancements for their own ends and gains.”

Promises of rapid advances in AI capabilities, including in hacking, have been a constant feature of the global digital technology race. Last month, the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US, warned that frontier models are “anticipated to exceed current industry expectations, fundamentally transforming both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities,” adding that “the timeline is not years, it is months.” -RT

Ratcliffe isn’t the only ruler concerned that other countries could outpace the US when it comes to AI warfare. During an Intelligence Committee hearing, US Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) said that National Security Agency chief Joshua Rudd had told him that Anthropic’s Mythos 5 model “broke into almost all of our classified systems, not in weeks, but in hours.”

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According to a report by the New York Times, the description “simplified” the spy agency’s controlled tests, which were aimed at AI-assisted identification of cybersecurity flaws rather than actual hacking.

The real question: is this about war or money? Realistically, it could be about both. The current boost in the American AI sector rests on hopes of massive future profits to justify hundreds of billions of dollars in investment. Some analysts have described it as a financial bubble, warning that it could crash unless US tech giants achieve global dominance.

But Ratcliffe warns that the US needs to be at the forefront so other enemies of the US won’t be able to wage war against AI weapons. It looks like the US wants a money boom and a war boom, which is typical of an empire crashing and burning. 

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