Crypto Firms Ask AI Labs to Give Bitcoin Developers Access to Advanced Models
A group of cryptocurrency companies has written to frontier artificial intelligence (AI) labs urging them to grant Bitcoin developers early access to their most advanced models.
The letter, published by the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), argues that many digital asset defenders, including Bitcoin Core developers, lack access to these lab cyber programs and are restricted by guardrails on publicly available frontier systems. This leaves them relying on less capable open-weight models.
The signatories urge AI labs to 'establish or expand standing trusted-access programs for qualified defenders of open-source financial infrastructure.' They point out that open-source software supports critical digital and financial infrastructure, with Bitcoin alone securing more than $1 trillion in value. A vulnerability in this infrastructure can put life savings at risk.
The BPI received reports from open-source maintainers describing sophisticated actors using advanced AI capabilities to sustain attacks.