Research4 sources35 comments in the community
Google DeepMind researchers used agentic AI framework AlphaProof Code to verify the Signal protocol's cryptographic guarantees, in a four-week proof-of-concept (Lily Hay Newman/Wired)
Techmeme ·
The Brief · written from 4 sources
- Google DeepMind used its AlphaProof Code agents to verify Signal's core encryption, writing three million lines of proofs in Lean.
- Wired reports the work was a four-week proof-of-concept, and The Register says it links protocol-level security guarantees to a widely used cryptographic implementation.
- DeepMind says human experts worked with the AI agents to decide what to prove.
Why it matters
It suggests AI-assisted formal verification may be able to scale to large, real-world codebases, although the work is described as a proof-of-concept.
Who’s affected
- Signal developers
- Teams working on formal verification of cryptographic software
- Developers interested in AI-assisted code verification
- #formal-verification
- #signal
- #cryptography
- #ai-agents
- #lean
Lily Hay Newman / Wired : Google DeepMind researchers used agentic AI framework AlphaProof Code to verify the Signal protocol's cryptographic guarantees, in a four-week proof-of-concept — DeepMind researchers were able to formally verify that the widely used encryption…
What developers are saying
Based on 35 comments · Mixed reactions
Hacker News commenters were largely impressed that Signal's code could be formally verified and saw AI-assisted verification as a hopeful sign for software safety. Skeptics noted that the proof appears to check the implementation rather than the specification, asked how Lean proofs are tied to the actual code, and questioned the cost and whether AI could take over the human decision-making.
- Impressive verification achievement30%
- Hope for safer AI-written software20%
- Spec versus implementation gap20%
- Proof-to-code correspondence doubts15%
- Cost and limits of AI15%
In favour
- + Shows that a large, real codebase like Signal's can be checked under formal methods
- + Could make software safer as AI takes on more development work
Concerns
- − The proof seems to cover the implementation, not the specification
- − It is unclear how a Lean proof shows that it represents the code it proves
- − The cost of the effort is unknown
- − Human experts still decide what to prove, which commenters see as a limit of AI
“tools like this give me hope that perhaps the future of software actually looks a lot more safe.”
“This new proof agent doesn't seem to challenge the spec though, just the implementation, if I've understood correctly.”
“How do you prove the lean code represents what the code its proving?”
Timeline
Google DeepMind announces AlphaProof Code and its formal verification of Signal's core encryption
Security Latest
A New AI Tool From Google DeepMind Proved the Signal Protocol Is Secure
Techmeme
Google DeepMind researchers used agentic AI framework AlphaProof Code to verify the Signal protocol's cryptographic guarantees, in a four-week proof-of-concept (Lily Hay Newman/Wired)
www.theregister.com - Articles
Google DeepMind melds humans and AI agents to vet Signal's secure messaging techniques
Google DeepMind News
Introducing AlphaProof Code: a breakthrough in verifying complex software at depth
Hacker News
101 points · 35 comments
Full coverage · 4 sources
- 2h ago ↗
Google DeepMind News
Introducing AlphaProof Code: a breakthrough in verifying complex software at depth - 2h ago ↗
www.theregister.com - Articles
Google DeepMind melds humans and AI agents to vet Signal's secure messaging techniques - 2h ago ↗
Techmeme
Google DeepMind researchers used agentic AI framework AlphaProof Code to verify the Signal protocol's cryptographic guarantees, in a four-week proof-of-concept (Lily Hay Newman/Wired)
- 9h ago ↗