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OpenAI GPT–6 Astra breaks Enigma message that has resisted solution since 2005

738 points · 448 comments · sohkamyung

  1. mmsc · · focus · HN ↗
    For anybody interested, the actual encrypted message:

      BTTE UM ANGABE DES MARSQWEGES X BEFINDE MIQ IN X ROSENOW ROSENOW X SOFORT FUNKANTWORT X WASCHBBSCH
    which, given misspellings, translates approximately to:

      Please specify the route of march. I am in Rosenow, Rosenow. Immediate reply by radio. Waschbusch.
    1. yitchelle · · focus · HN ↗
      was the misspellings deliberate?
      1. busssard · · focus · HN ↗
        i would assume yes, to throw off decyphering. even more impressive that they managed to crack it
        1. damnesian · · focus · HN ↗
          I'm surprised "Bitte" --> "btte" was a hurdle. "Bitte," or "please," is ubiquitous in German. The more common the term, them more likely you'd be to see some contractions. Dropping the "i" is pretty logical- anyone looking at it would see immediately what it meant.
          1. tomjakubowski · · focus · HN ↗
            To be clear, the text in the comment is the plaintext, not the ciphertext. The plaintext is what's full of typos.

            The ciphertext of message Nr 172 was:

            MVUEH IDEVS ARMCC NQTAT YEVFC DBZGG SMXWL PSYWZ YTCBS WURRT BZCVG ODVJU SLSOO MJQJZ SXSEB ZPEYM DNXJF TC

            <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;cryptocellar.org&#x2F;bgac&#x2F;g-army-july-1941.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;cryptocellar.org&#x2F;bgac&#x2F;g-army-july-1941.html

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