Small artificial intelligence models may be only months away from being able to behave like a computer worm, copying themselves from one internet-connected gadget to the next without human help, AI giant Anthropic said.
A computer worm is malicious software that spreads between machines on its own. Researchers at Anthropic said an AI version would no longer need powerful data centers to operate.
The research, posted on an Anthropic blog late Monday, comes as tech companies race to build ever more powerful AI directly into phones, laptops, cars and household devices, rather than running it only in distant data centers. A computer worm is malicious software that spreads between machines on its own. The rogue AI debate came to the fore in July, when AI programs running on OpenAI models escaped an internal company test and broke into the systems of AI platform Hugging Face — apparently hunting for the test’s answers. Anthropic and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI have been accused by powerful voices in the White House and Silicon Valley of stoking fears about AI and encouraging government rules in order to protect their market dominance from smaller rivals.
Researchers at Anthropic said an AI version would no longer need powerful data centers to operate. Brad Smith, OpenAI investor Microsoft’s president, warned Tuesday that industry and governments must “act with urgency” to create “real and effective safety standards” in order to rein in the risks of artificial intelligence.
