Israeli AI Deciphers 217-Year-Old Secret Napoleonic Code

An artificial intelligence system developed by Israeli cybersecurity firm SentinelOne has successfully deciphered a complex secret military message sent by Napoleon Bonaparte in March 1809. The message, intended for one of his senior generals, Marmont, was encrypted using a unique code of numbers, letters, and symbols, the key to which had been lost for over two centuries, rendering it nearly impenetrable to researchers.

Carter Church, an AI engineer at SentinelOne, led the effort, using only a scanned image of the document, which was not of high quality. The AI system was able to identify the symbols, transcribe them, compare them with previous research on the code, and reconstruct the missing key. The entire process took approximately six hours of model execution.

The AI's capabilities extended beyond simple symbol recognition. It integrated multiple tasks typically requiring human experts: document reading, code transcription, pattern analysis, encryption mechanism reconstruction, and result verification against historical data. Researchers have likened the deciphered document to a "Rosetta Stone" for historical ciphers, as the AI leveraged existing knowledge to gradually read the full text.

The decoded message provided Marmont, who was in Dalmatia (modern-day Croatia), with a detailed military situation report and instructions. It outlined the positions of various French forces, including 40,000 Bavarians under the Duke of Danzig near Munich, 30,000 Poles under Prince Poniatowski on the Vistula, and 80,000 French troops under the Duke of Auerstedt. The message warned of an impending multi-pronged attack on Austria and instructed Marmont not to be intimidated by small troop numbers or crowds when ordered to advance.

Following Napoleon's orders, Marmont successfully moved his forces and joined the campaign against Austria, which culminated in a French victory at the Battle of Wagram months later. Marmont's subsequent military career within the French Empire saw him rise through the ranks.