The model Claude Fable 5.1 solved a previously unsolved cipher from the 17th century
According to Vals AI, the model Claude Fable 5.1 independently solved the previously unsolved Cyphral Distich cipher by Sir Thomas Urquhart from 1653, doing so in 44 minutes without human help. The other models tested did not solve the cipher.
According to Vals AI, the model Claude Fable 5.1 from Anthropic solved a cipher called Cyphral Distich, published in 1653 by Sir Thomas Urquhart, which researchers had previously considered unsolved. The cipher consists of two lines of 32 numbers each. The model solved it in 44 minutes entirely without human guidance.
Vals AI says it spent months testing a range of leading models on unsolved puzzles, but none produced a verifiable solution. The model Claude Fable 5.1 was tasked with independently finding a solvable puzzle - it explored various problems and identified Cyphral Distich as promising.
The key to the solution was hidden in Urquhart's publication itself: each number refers to a word in one of the 32 sections of the text, and the first letters of these words form the message "O God uphold King Charls the Second and make him the supreme ruler of this land" (support for King Charles II). According to Vals AI, the solution is simple in hindsight and humans could have found it too - the model succeeded through systematic experimentation and persistence, rather than better cryptanalysis.
Why it matters
The case shows that the model can independently identify which of many unsolved problems is solvable at all, and then solve it through a systematic and persistent approach without any human hints - an ability that can be used when searching extensive archives or old texts, where success depends on patiently testing hypotheses rather than smarter analysis.
Two audiences, two different impacts
What this means
For individuals
For individuals working with historical texts, ciphers or similar open-ended puzzles, the case shows that the model can independently propose and verify a solution without human guidance, if given room for systematic experimentation.
For a business
The case demonstrates that, without being given a specific goal, the model can independently select a solvable problem from a larger pool of candidates and solve it through a persistent, systematic approach, which is relevant to companies considering deploying AI models for open-ended research or archival tasks.
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