Side-channel hype distracts AI safety from fixing basic security gaps today

BlancheMinerva · x · 2026-09-19

A widely shared take argues that the recent AI side-channel attack, while real, has an extremely low theoretical bitrate and is entirely infeasible for weight exfiltration or hacking — so the outsized attention is misplaced.

The author frames the reaction as the recurring AI-safety complaint of focus: the community chases interesting, highly theoretical problems that may never materialize while failing at much more pedestrian, effective security measures today.

Related event: Security Veterans Push Back on AI Breaking Air-Gaps via CPU Heat(27 posts)→

Original post →

More from AGI Musings

AGI Musings channel →