Tegmark: Signal formal verification overhyped, only 80% done

MIT's Max Tegmark called Wired's coverage of the formal verification of Signal's protocol exaggerated—only about 80% is complete—and coined "formal-washing" for claiming safety from partial proofs.

2026-11-12 ~ 2026-11-12 · 2 related posts

Full story(2 episodes)→

• Episode 1: DeepMind's AlphaProof Code Delivers First Machine-Code Formal Verification of Signal Protocol(2026-11-10, 26 posts)
• Episode 2: Tegmark: Signal formal verification overhyped, only 80% done(2026-11-12, 2 posts)

• Signal formal verification hits 80%, Tegmark says Wired overstated completion — tegmark · 2026-11-12
• MIT's Tegmark coins 'formal-washing': Signal protocol proof is far from complete — tegmark · 2026-11-12