GTIG AI Threat Tracker: Distillation, Experimentation, and (Continued) Integration of AI for Adversarial Use

Introduction In the final quarter of 2025, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) observed threat actors increasingly integrating artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the attack lifecycle, achieving productivity gains in reconnaissance, social engineering, and malware development. This report serves as an update to our November 2025 findings regarding the advances in threat actor usage of AI tools. By identifying these early indicators and offensive proofs of concept, GTIG aims to arm defenders with the intelligence necessary to anticipate the next phase of AI-enabled threats, proactively thwart malicious activity, and continually strengthen both our classifiers and model. Executive Summary Google DeepMind and GTIG have identified an increase in model extraction attempts or "distillation attacks," a method of intellectual property theft that violates Google's terms of service. Throughout this report we've noted steps we've taken to thwart malicious activity, including Google det