The AI model GPT-6 Astra has successfully deciphered a 217-year-old military code. The process took approximately six hours to complete, starting from a single image input. The message originated from the headquarters of Eugène de Beauharnais and was intended for French General Auguste de Marmont, containing orders related to Napoleon's military strategy.
The document, which dates back to 1809, consists of an introductory line in French followed by 24 rows of mixed numbers, letters, and custom symbols. The AI utilized a previously unconnected partial key and a simulated-annealing solver to decode the text. The findings provide missing context for Napoleon's 1865 memoir, specifically completing a sentence regarding the Austrian invasion.
The solution has been verified by Satoshi Tomokiyo, the maintainer of the Cryptiana Unsolved Historical Ciphers database, who has officially marked the cipher as solved. According to the project participants, the result is mechanically testable against the original ciphertext using the provided solution package.
