A cryptic German transmission from 1918, alerting about an English warship en route to Sevastopol, has finally been decoded after more than a century. This breakthrough is attributed to OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra. During the process, the AI also detected an unexplained inconsistency in the date details.
In the closing stages of World War I, German military authorities sent a confidential encrypted message to their High Command reporting that an English cruiser was heading toward Sevastopol, with an Allied fleet expected to arrive soon and wait to launch an attack near the Crimean Peninsula. This coded communication remained unsolved for decades until a developer named Prinz employed AI technology to crack it.
OpenAI describes GPT-6 Astra as an “alien mind,” highlighting its advanced and humanlike cognitive abilities. The AI handles complex challenges and even mastered the video game Portal within 24 hours by creating spatial maps and solving puzzles. Decrypting this historical military cipher presented a different but equally captivating puzzle that has now captured public interest.
The Letter Matrix and the Encrypted Output
The cipher system used is known as ADFGVX, a method employed by German forces in WWI. It features six rows and six columns labeled with the letters of its name. The grid is formed by first arranging a keyword in alphabetical order, then following with the rest of the alphabet and digits zero through nine.
A Popular Mechanics explanation describes encrypting a letter as “astonishingly straightforward”: by identifying its position in the grid, that location is translated into a code. For example, a letter located four rows down in column F and three columns across in row D would convert to AD. This process produces the deliberately scrambled final message.
GPT-6 Astra received the German keyword TRUPPENVERSCHIEBUNG, meaning troop redeployment. Interestingly, this keyword seems unrelated to the naval subject of the message, suggesting that cipher keys were chosen for ease rather than topic relevance.
Decoding the Actual Message
Once decrypted, the plaintext stated in German that an English cruiser had arrived in Sevastopol and that an Allied fleet would follow on the 26th. This communication was likely intended for Naval Command or a senior officer like an admiral.
The decoded message aligns with historical records. According to the original log of H.M.S. Canterbury, that vessel was traveling from Constantinople to Sevastopol. Cross-referencing with the log, Astra confirmed the Canterbury’s arrival at Sevastopol on November 24, 1918, and the Allied squadron’s arrival on November 26.
A Perplexing Timeline
The puzzling part emerges here. GPT-6 Astra determined that the cipher key began being used on December 9, 1918, yet the decrypted message dates from November 27, 1918. The reason for this discrepancy remains a mystery. Additionally, the Allied squadron supposedly arrived a day earlier than when Germany issued its warning.
Another odd feature is the presence of a question mark preceding “4th” in the translation, which remains unexplained. It could be a simple typographical error, which, as the article wryly suggests, occasionally happens even in classified military correspondence.
Prinz, the developer who led the AI effort, has downplayed the achievement. According to a statement on their website, they were unaware that this message had ever been decoded before. They described it as a minor yet “really cool” accomplishment, showcasing the impressive problem-solving capabilities of the AI model.
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