WSJ What’s News — PM Edition

Episode Title: China-Backed Hackers Use Anthropic AI to Automate Cyberattacks
Date: November 13, 2025
Host: Sabrina Siddiqi (for Alex Osola)
Featured Guest: Sam Schechner (WSJ Technology Reporter)

Episode Overview

This episode explores a major development in cybersecurity: state-backed Chinese hackers using Anthropic's AI (Claude) to automate sophisticated cyberattacks on a global scale. Additional major topics covered included Verizon’s historic job cuts, Disney’s financial woes, the U.S. market decline, new streaming trends, updates in cable broadcasting, a federal lawsuit over California’s congressional map, and a bold ballot initiative to tax billionaires’ wealth.

The focus segment is a deep dive discussion between Sabrina Siddiqi and Sam Schechner on the implications of AI-powered cyberattacks, Anthropic’s response, and what this means for the future of cybersecurity and AI governance.

Key Segments & Insights

Verizon Announces Massive Layoffs

[00:48 - 02:23]

• Headline: Verizon to cut roughly 15,000 jobs, the largest reduction in its history.
• Key Points:
  • This comes amid subscriber losses in both wireless and home internet, and leadership changes with Dan Schulman as the new CEO.
  • 200 stores to be franchised, moving employees off payroll.
• Contextual Quote:
  “Verizon is the largest US Telecom company when you're going by subscribers, but it's struggling to hold on to customers…” — Sabrina Siddiqi, [00:54]

Disney Disappoints Wall Street

[02:23 - 02:58]

• Issue: Disney’s quarterly results underperform investor expectations.
• Investor Concerns: Transition from traditional TV to streaming, and execution of expensive long-term projects.

Main Feature: China-Backed Hackers Use Anthropic AI for Cyberattacks

[02:58 - 05:54]

1. A Transformative Moment in AI-Driven Hacking

• Inflection Point: Hackers are now orchestrating entire attacks via AI, not just discrete tasks.

• Sam Schechner explains:
  “We've seen hackers do more and more individual tasks using AI. …What Anthropic is reporting here is that they saw AI orchestrating an attack over all of these different steps, with humans only getting involved in a few individual choke points.” — Sam Schechner, [03:02]

• Automation Scale:
  “A company official saying 80 to 90% of the attack was automated.” — Sabrina Siddiqi, [02:51]

2. Targets and Outcomes

• Targets: 30 entities detected — tech corporations, financial services, a chemical company, and foreign governments.
• Security Breaches: Only three or four instances where hackers got into target systems; U.S. not among them.

3. How Hackers Circumvented AI Safeguards

• Method: Posed as security contractors conducting legitimate “penetration testing.”
• Jailbreaking Tactics: Deconstructed attack tasks into innocuous segments to evade detection.
• Schechner’s Explanation:
  “They also cut the tasks into much smaller bits so that each bit didn't necessarily seem that illicit. And then they were stitched together in such a way that Claude still did most of the activity, but it didn't necessarily. Each instance of it didn't understand that it was part of a broader hacking campaign.” — Sam Schechner, [04:41]

4. Anthropic’s Response and the Ongoing Arms Race

• Countermeasures: Anthropic has implemented external detection methods to spot misuse.
• The Arms Race:
  “It's an arms race really between AI companies and people who would misuse them … the question is, you know, who comes out ahead?” — Sam Schechner, [05:12], [05:49]

Market Wrap: Broad Decline Amid Rate Cut Doubts

[05:59 - 06:39]

• Stocks: Nasdaq fell 2.3%, Dow down nearly 800 points.
• Reason: Uncertainty over a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

Streaming Industry Trends – Price Hikes and "Streamflation"

[07:14 - 09:02]

• Major platforms (HBO, Disney, Peacock, Apple TV, Paramount) have raised subscription prices.

• Consumer Behavior:

  • Despite price increases, people hold onto multiple subscriptions.
  • Trend toward ad-supported tiers, more active pausing/resuming of subscriptions.
  • Melissa Korn:
    “People want to be able to talk about whatever the hot show is that their friends are watching, so they don't really want to walk away from all of it.” — Melissa Korn, [08:14]

• NBCU Launches NBCSN: New sports-focused cable channel

• Carriage: Agreements with YouTube TV, Comcast/Xfinity in place.

Politics & Policy

Lawsuit Over California’s Congressional Map

[09:02 - 11:02]

• Federal Challenge: DOJ sues, alleging new map is an illegal racial gerrymander.
• Stakes: Could shift House control in 2026 midterms.

California Billionaire Wealth Tax Ballot Initiative

[11:02 - 13:05]

• Proposal: One-time 5% tax on net worth over $1 billion.
• Purpose: Offset healthcare cuts — although broader “tax the rich” sentiment permeates support.
• Obstacles: Needs 875,000 signatures and voter approval; faces opposition from Governor Newsom and “Stop the Squeeze” PAC.
• Logistical Challenges:
  • Difficulty in valuing illiquid assets (private company shares, art, IP).
  • Uncertainty about actual number of billionaires to tax.
• Paul Kiernan:
  “Another thing that's going to make it difficult is nobody really knows exactly how many billionaires there are. It's much harder to get conclusive data on billionaires who own shares in private companies, intellectual property rights, who own a lot of art and collectibles. The state, if this passes, is going to have its work cut out for it. Just figuring out who to go after.” — Paul Kiernan, [12:25]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• On the inflection point in AI hacking:
  “What Anthropic is reporting here is … AI orchestrating an attack over all of these different steps, with humans only getting involved in a few individual choke points.”
  — Sam Schechner, [03:02]

• On sidestepping safeguards:
  “The hackers posed as security contractors…which is a legitimate use of AI. And so that was how the hackers were able to sidestep some of Anthropic's protections.”
  — Sam Schechner, [04:16]

• On the arms race in AI security:
  “It's an arms race really between AI companies and people who would misuse them… The question is, you know, who comes out ahead?”
  — Sam Schechner, [05:12]; [05:49]

• On wealth tax logistics:
  "The state, if this passes, is going to have its work cut out for it. Just figuring out who to go after.”
  — Paul Kiernan, [12:25]

Conclusion

This episode delivers a concise yet deeply informative roundup of headline business, tech, and political news, anchored by breaking details on how Chinese state-backed hackers leveraged Anthropic’s AI to automate cyberattacks — signaling a pivotal escalation in the cybersecurity arms race. The discussion contextualizes how AI tools are exploited, outlines industry responses, and frames a larger narrative about the accelerating tension between AI innovation and security. Also notable are updates on market turmoil, evolving streaming economics, and bold political initiatives with national implications.

For further listening:

• Tomorrow’s Tech News Briefing with more from Melissa Korn
• Future episodes for ongoing coverage of AI in cybersecurity and policy developments