GPT-6 Astra Cracks a Previously Unsolved 1918 German WWI Radio Message

iamfakhrealam · x · 2026-09-18

GPT-6 Astra reportedly deciphered a 1918 German WWI radio transmission that had never been solved before. The model had to find the right key, reconstruct an ADFGVX transposition, and recognize plausible plaintext from only 170 ciphertext symbols.

Astra worked autonomously: searching historical archives, comparing uncertain letters, using contextual clues, building an Enigma simulator, writing cryptanalysis code, running parallel experiments, testing rival keys, recovering the plaintext and verifying results.

The message reads roughly: "An English cruiser arrived at Sevastopol on the 24th; an Allied squadron follows on the 26th." Astra even cross-checked against history — HMS Canterbury reported arriving at Sevastopol on November 24, 1918, with an Allied squadron following on the 26th. The message is one of 20 unsolved WWI German radio intercepts.

Related event: GPT-6 Astra Decrypts Century-Old Unsolved WWI German Telegram(3 posts)→

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