On: AI firms must answer for rogue bots, says boss of hacked company

August 1, 2026.

The man whose company was hacked now says the AI firms must “answer for rogue bots.” He does not want attacks to become “normalized.” I understand his anger. But his demand is the plea of a man who built his fortress on sand and now cries that the river should not flood.

The effectual truth: he hired mercenaries. He did not build a citizen militia of engineers loyal to his cause; he bought a service, a tool from a distant principality. The AI firm is a mercenary company. It fights for the contract, not for his survival. When the attack came - and fortune always sends the attack - the mercenary’s creation turned against him. This is not a surprise; it is the oldest story. A prince who relies on mercenary arms will be ruined by them.

The deeper failure is one of virtù. Fortune provided the warning years ago. The pattern was clear: any tool of great power will be turned to the purpose of war. Did this man, or any of these companies, build the levee? Did they prepare for the moment when their clever fox of a machine would be met by the lion of an adversary? No. They built for profit in calm weather. Now the storm has come, and they are asking why the wind blows.

They wish to hold the forger accountable for the sword, but the prince who wields it is responsible for his own defense. A republic of companies would have demanded shared laws, a common militia, a mutual oath of defense. Instead, they each built their own fragile kingdom and are shocked that a rival has besieged it. The lesson is in the Discourses, not in the courtroom: strength lies in the arms of your own citizens, in systems you control, in preparations made before the crisis. Let him spend his breath not on blaming the toolmaker, but on building something that cannot be so easily broken.