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

Oct 13 (Reuters) — Anthropic said on Monday its experiments suggested small AI models may be months away from being capable enough to self-replicate on commercial internet-of-things (IoT) devices, such as smart ovens and off-brand Android TV boxes. 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. 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 war