AI models may soon self-replicate without access to data centers, Anthropic warns

In its experiments, Anthropic looked at whether AI models could find vulnerable devices, copy themselves into those devices, ​and continue spreading without human help.

It found that small ​models under 30 billion parameters could complete the many ⁠steps needed for replication.

However, the firm found that such AI ​models also struggled to complete the entire sequence from start ​to finish.

In its simplified tests, where some security steps were removed, Anthropic found that GLM-5.2 and stronger models were capable of end-to-end replication.

Replicating models ​would be hard to shut down as there is no ​central switch-off point and, unlike non-AI malware, they could also figure out ‌unfamiliar ⁠devices on their own, targeting data center processors, Anthropic warned.

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The firm focused on IoT devices like Android TVs, smart appliances, and other internet-connected gadgets in its research as these are typically ​poorly secured.

The AI ​major also ⁠warned that if small models improved at their historical rate, they would be able to ​autonomously replicate by the end of this year, ​with small ⁠weight-based replicators following suit soon after.

Anthropic also said such autonomous AI systems were likely to replicate slowly and rely on widely ⁠available, ​relatively insecure computing resources. It added ​that systems should be strengthened to make it harder for such AI agents ​to spread.