Vitalik's latest article explores "formal verification": combining AI will be the final form of software development, endowing Ethereum with ultimate security.

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The Final Form of Software Development Has Arrived? Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published a lengthy article today (the 18th), exploring in depth the enormous potential of combining "Formal Verification" with AI. He pointed out that writing programs in low-level languages and using the Lean language for automatic computer verification will endow the Ethereum EVM and ZK systems with unprecedented security and efficiency. Vitalik asserts that although AI may exacerbate vulnerability attacks in the short term, with the assistance of formal verification, defenders will ultimately gain an overwhelming advantage. (Background: Vitalik: Don't try to fight AI, instead build a sanctuary for humanity) (Context: Vitalik in conversation with Xiao Feng in Hong Kong: Simplifying the Ethereum system is the top priority — it's so complex only 50 people understand it, developers and users will be scared away) In the world of blockchain, code vulnerabilities often mean tens of millions of dollars in funds evaporating overnight. To solve this fatal pain point, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has offered his ultimate solution. Vitalik published a new article today (the 18th) titled "A shallow dive into formal verification." He has observed that over the past few months, a brand-new programming paradigm has been rapidly rising within Ethereum's frontier research circles: writing programs directly in extremely low-level languages (such as EVM bytecode or assembly language), paired with the Lean language to write "mathematical proofs" that can be automatically checked by a computer. Vitalik cited developer Yoichi Hirai's description, hailing this combination as "the final form of software development." Simply put, formal verification means writing proofs of mathematical theorems in a way that computers can automatically and rigorously check. Vitalik gave an example: unlike humans deriving things through intuition, in the Lean language, developers can convert the security of cryptographic communication protocols (such as Signal) into theorems. By proving the security of the X3DH key exchange and the correctness of the AES implementation, computers can guarantee "end-to-end" that, apart from the user holding the private key, no one can read the messages. This way of transforming program behavior into rigorous mathematical verification greatly enhances the system's Trustlessness. In the realms of cryptocurrency and ZK (Zero-Knowledge Proof), Bugs are extremely dangerous. Errors in smart contracts can lead to funds being stolen and unrecoverable, and Bugs in ZK systems can even be maliciously exploited without anyone noticing. With the emergence of advanced AI in the future (such as Claude Mythos), AI will possess the terrifying ability to automatically discover "Zero-day" vulnerabilities. Facing this security threat, many feel pessimistic, believing that defense can never prevail over offense. But Vitalik has put forth a strong objection and an optimistic vision: "AI searching for vulnerabilities is only a transitional challenge. With the help of formal verification, we will ultimately enter a new equilibrium where the 'defenders' gain a significant advantage." Vitalik firmly believes that formal verification gives us the ability to "prove that everything is correct." The article delves into the current practical applications of formal verification within the Ethereum ecosystem, particularly in the realms of EVM implementation and ZK-EVM. The developer community is currently attempting to use the Lean language to write a RISC-V assembly language version of the EVM, and to prove its absolute correctness in Gas computation and stack operations. Vitalik depicted an exciting future workflow: AI will be responsible for generating highly efficient low-level assembly language code, and then formal verification will ensure that this code is 100% correct. This means developers can return to efficient low-level development while still maintaining the system's comprehensibility and absolute security. Although formal verification currently still faces limitations such as high proof complexity, long time consumption, and the possibility that the Specification itself may be written incorrectly, Vitalik predicts that AI will greatly accelerate the proof-writing process, bringing formal verification from a niche technology into the mainstream. This will not only give rise to a more secure Internet and decentralized systems but also perfectly realize the ultimate ideal of the Cypherpunk.

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