Vance urges tech CEOs to counter AI attacks on infrastructure

On an April phone call, Vice President JD Vance urged top technology executives to work together to defend U.S. critical infrastructure from AI-enabled attacks linked to the China-backed hacking group Volt Typhoon. On the call he told executives, “We all need to work together on this.”

U.S. officials have said Volt Typhoon has gained persistent access to systems across energy, utilities and transportation networks and has compromised hundreds of thousands of devices, creating a dormant presence inside critical networks.

Before taking office, Vance wrote to then-CISA director Jen Easterly warning that the group’s activity could disrupt military power sources and supply chains in a geopolitical crisis.

Administration officials have encouraged infrastructure operators and technology firms to deploy AI-based defensive tools to detect and respond to sophisticated intrusions more quickly. Examples cited include automated anomaly detection, network segmentation and AI-assisted incident response.

At a Paris summit earlier this year, Vance criticized European-style AI regulations and said he favors continued development with targeted protections for national security applications.

The call did not single out cryptocurrency, but officials noted links between infrastructure security and digital-asset operations. Mining farms require stable power, exchanges need continuous secure data transmission, and decentralized finance platforms depend on internet uptime. Officials warned that a major disruption to power or networks during a crisis could reduce bitcoin mining hashrate, interrupt exchange connectivity and trigger rapid trading liquidations.

Administration messaging emphasized voluntary industry action, while leaving open the option of government intervention if private-sector measures do not address demonstrable risks to critical systems.

The April discussion tied national security, AI capabilities and infrastructure protection as linked priorities. Vance is acting as a point of contact between technology firms and national security agencies to advance technical cooperation on those issues.