Humans remain the biggest risk to energy-grid cybersecurity, AI just raises the stakes

Despite headlines about rogue AI, energy infrastructure is still most at risk from human attackers, aided by aging OT gear and patch delays. Generative AI can accelerate and broaden attacks, helping less-skilled adversaries, so utilities must strengthen defenses across people, processes, and technology, including non-digital fallbacks. OpenAI and policymakers are pursuing safeguards, but experts caution against relying on friendly AI to defend critical infrastructure and urge more governance and research to close gaps in AI-enabled cybersecurity for energy systems.