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Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has rejected the argument that increasingly capable AI hackers will make cybersecurity unwinnable, saying automated formal verification could eventually give defenders an advantage.
Buterin said people who continue holding cryptocurrency are already betting that digital systems can remain secure as AI capabilities improve. He added that roughly 90% of his own net worth remains in crypto.
Buterin Says AI Could Lower the Cost of Formal Verification
Buterin’s argument centers on formal verification, which uses mathematical specifications and proofs to determine whether software satisfies predefined properties.
He argued that if increasingly capable AI systems can solve difficult mathematical proofs, similar systems could help prove that software meets specified security requirements.
Ethereum already recommends formal verification as one technique for improving smart contract security. Compared with conventional testing, it can provide stronger guarantees across the behaviors covered by a formal specification.
Security Proofs Remain Limited by What Specifications Cover
Formal verification does not automatically establish that an entire system is secure. It shows that an implementation satisfies the properties included in the specification being checked.
Ethereum’s documentation notes that incomplete or poorly designed specifications can leave important behavior outside a proof.
Buterin similarly argued that security analysis needs to account for supporting components such as databases, networking layers, caches, and protocols rather than verifying only code already considered critical.
AI is Already Strengthening Offensive Cyber Capabilities
Buterin did not dispute that AI is strengthening attackers. Anthropic said in its September threat-intelligence report that malicious actors have used AI for reconnaissance, vulnerability research, exploit development and increasingly automated cyber operations.
His disagreement is over whether stronger offensive systems necessarily leave defenders permanently behind.
Buterin argues that AI could also lower the cost of producing and checking formal proofs, allowing developers to verify more complex software systems than would be practical manually. His latest comments continue an argument he outlined earlier this year that AI-assisted formal verification could become an significant defensive tool as automated attacks grow more capable.
