The Five Eyes intelligence alliance is warning that artificial intelligence-powered cyberattacks from hostile foreign adversaries could overwhelm Western governments and businesses within months unless defensive measures are rapidly strengthened.
According to a joint warning reported by the Financial Times, cyber chiefs from the Five Eyes partnership said the timeline for potentially disruptive AI-driven attacks is not measured in years, but in months.
"The timeline is not years, it is months," the officials said in a rare joint communiqué.
The Five Eyes is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Born from World War II code-breaking cooperation and formalized through the 1946 UKUSA Agreement, the alliance is widely regarded as the world's oldest and most comprehensive signals intelligence and information sharing network.
The warning reflects growing concern that America's geopolitical rivals, including China, Russia, and North Korea, are rapidly incorporating advanced artificial intelligence into their cyber operations.
While Five Eyes officials said Western nations currently maintain an edge thanks to leading commercial AI models and stronger integration of AI into military and intelligence operations, they cautioned that advantage may be short-lived.
The alert comes just days after the United States reportedly ordered AI company Anthropic to restrict access by foreign nationals to some of its most advanced models, citing national security concerns.
Cybersecurity experts already are seeing evidence of the threat.
Google Threat Intelligence Group disclosed in May that it stopped an attack in which artificial intelligence was allegedly used to discover a previously unknown software vulnerability and transform it into a working cyber weapon.
Investigators said Russian-linked actors were suspected, while similar activity has been associated with Chinese and North Korean hacking groups.
The Five Eyes warning emphasized that next-generation "frontier" AI systems could dramatically transform both cyber offense and defense.
"Frontier AI models are anticipated to exceed current industry expectations, fundamentally transforming both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities," the cyber chiefs said.
The alliance urged companies to adopt AI-powered security tools to defend critical infrastructure, warning that organizations that delay modernization will face increasing risk as adversaries deploy increasingly sophisticated attacks.
The warning also underscores a growing strategic competition between the United States and China over dominance in artificial intelligence.
U.S. officials have repeatedly argued that maintaining leadership in AI is critical not only for economic growth but also for national security, military readiness, and protection of critical infrastructure.
For now, Five Eyes officials say the West retains the advantage. But they warn that the window to prepare may be closing rapidly.