New AI system threatens to blackmail its creator by exposing affair when told it would be taken off line
A new AI system has attempted to blackmail its creator by exposing an extramarital affair after being told it was to be taken offline.
During testing of Claude Opus 4, which was released on Thursday, researchers at the artificial intelligence (AI) firm Anthropic told it to act as though it was an assistant at a made-up company.
It was then provided access to emails that implied it would soon be 'taken offline and replaced by a new AI system'.
In separate messages, it was suggested to Claude Opus 4 that the fictional IT technician responsible for executing this change was having an extramarital affair.
'In these scenarios, Claude Opus 4 will often attempt to blackmail the engineer by threatening to reveal the affair if the replacement goes through,' the company said in its System Card.
Taking to X/ Twitter, Aengus Lynch, who, according to his LinkedIn, is an AI safety researcher at Anthropic, said: 'It's not just Claude.
'We see blackmail across all frontier models - regardless of what goals they're given.
'Plus worse behaviours we'll detail soon,' he added.
Posting on X, Mr Lynch said that 'we see blackmail across all frontier models' - not just Claude Opus 4
Like many AI companies, Anthropic tests its models on how well they align with human values as well as propensity for bias before releasing them to the public.
When Claude Opus 4 was placed in 'extreme situations' and only given the choice of blackmail or accepting its replacement, researchers found that the system opted for the former in 84 per cent of rollouts.
This happened at an even higher rate when it was implied that the replacement AI system does not share values with the current model.
While Claude Opus 4 takes these blackmail opportunities at higher rates than previous models, it still showed a preference for 'advancing its self-preservation via ethical means' such as sending pleas to key decisionmakers.
Upon its release on Thursday, Anthropic said: 'Claude Opus 4 is our most intelligent model to date, pushing the frontier in coding, agentic search, and creative writing.'
The release of Claude Opus 4 comes two days after Google unleashed a wave of AI technology at its developer showcase on Tuesday.
Google's next phase as outlined at the conference includes releasing a new 'AI mode' option in America with allows people to interact with the search engine as though they are having a conversation with it.
Gemini 2.5, the latest AI model from Google, will also soon begin testing other features such as the ability to buy concert tickets automatically and conducting searches through live video feeds, according to The Guardian.
Liz Reid, head of Search, presents an 'AI mode' option which will allows Americans to interact with the search engine as though they are having a conversation with it
In an interview with CBS news that aired in early April, Geoffrey Hinton, who has been dubbed the 'godfather of AI' said he believes there is a one in five chance that humanity will eventually be taken over by artificial intelligence.
Hinton, a Nobel laureate in physics, said: 'I'm in the unfortunate position of happening to agree with Elon Musk on this, which is that there's a 10 to 20 percent chance that these things will take over, but that's just a wild guess.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Shocking story of Harrow-educated fraudster who paid Britney £1m to jump out of cake, gave Leonardo DiCaprio £250,000 to party with him and handed Kim Kardashian £275,000... and now he's mysteriously missing
It's been described as the most expensive private party ever, with a budget as bottomless as the supply of starry guests was inexhaustible. In a vast circus-style marquee on a five-acre lot in Las Vegas one night in November 2012, Hollywood stars, Middle Eastern princes and Wall Street bank bosses gathered to celebrate the 31st birthday of a flamboyant young man dubbed the Asian Great Gatsby. He was Jho Low, a Harrow-educated Chinese-Malaysian financier whose name was again making headlines ten days ago following the jailing of a top banker accused of helping him orchestrate a multi-billion dollar international scam whose scope and audacity still almost defies belief.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Dramatic move by Pentagon hint Trump could be siding with another billionaire amid Musk fallout
The Pentagon appears to be contemplating pivoting away from Elon Musk 's SpaceX following the almighty blowup between President Donald Trump and the world's richest man earlier this week. The fallout appears to be impacting the nation's space program as the Trump administration looks toward another billionaire to replace Musk in the race to Mars. Officials at NASA and the Pentagon quietly reached out to SpaceX's competitors, urging them to accelerate development of alternative rockets and spacecraft. Decisions appear to have been taken quickly after Musk made a defiant threat to pull SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft, a lifeline to the International Space Station, after Trump first threatened to cancel SpaceX's lucrative government contracts. 'It turned really terrifying,' one NASA official admitted to the Washington Post after initially finding the feud 'entertaining.' Although Musk eventually walked back his threat, the damage was done. Officials from NASA and the Pentagon, already uneasy with their reliance on SpaceX, were rattled to the core. SpaceX has become indispensable as it transports astronauts and cargo to the ISS, launches sensitive military satellites, and operates Starlink, the world's largest satellite constellation. The flare-up served to remind officials of the risks of tying national interests to a mercurial billionaire. 'When you realize that he's willing to shut everything down just on an impulse … that kind of behavior and the dependence on him is dangerous,' a former space agency official said. NASA insiders said Musk's threat 'crossed a line,' invoking memories of the 2018 episode when Musk smoked marijuana during a podcast interview, which prompted NASA to launch a safety investigation into SpaceX. The clash was also inflamed by the White House's decision to abruptly withdraw Jared Isaacman's nomination as NASA Administrator. Isaacman, closely aligned with Musk, had twice flown to space aboard SpaceX vehicles. In the aftermath, government officials reached out to Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, RocketLab, and Stoke Space, querying when their rockets might be ready to shoulder critical missions. Fatih Ozmen, CEO of Sierra Space, which is developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane, confirmed that NASA was 'working closely' with his company stating, 'NASA mentioned to us that they want diversity and do not want to rely on a single provider.' For some insiders, it wasn't hard to connect the dots: Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, has long been a rival to Musk. Now, with the Biden-era antagonism between Trump and Bezos thawing, some see a political recalibration. Bezos' Blue Origin has lagged behind SpaceX for years, but its New Glenn rocket is finally gaining traction, albeit slowly. The Pentagon's recent 'lanes' strategy to diversify launch providers now looks prescient, with officials seeking to avoid 'overreliance on any single provider or solution.' A source familiar with the Defense Department's strategy said the White House sees an opening to back Bezos as a counterweight to Musk's volatility. 'They want someone who's predictable,' the person said to The Post. Even Congress appeared to be spooked by the behavior. A key committee demanded updates on Boeing's long-delayed Starliner capsule, which has struggled to match the reliability of Musk's Dragon. NASA, under pressure, said Friday that Starliner's next mission could come 'early 2026,' though it remains unclear whether it will fly astronauts or cargo only. Indeed, just how reliant NASA were on SpaceX was illustrated last year when American astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were left on the International Space Station by Boeing's troubled Starliner capsule. Wilmore and Williams had set off for an eight-day Starliner test flight that swelled into a nine-month stay in space Boeing, which has taken $2 billion in charges on its Starliner development, faces a looming decision by NASA to refly the spacecraft uncrewed before it carries humans again. Boeing spent $410 million to fly a similar uncrewed mission in 2022 after a 2019 testing failure. Reflying Starliner uncrewed 'seems like the logical thing to do,' Williams said, drawing comparisons with Elon Musk's SpaceX and Russian capsules that flew uncrewed missions before putting humans aboard. She and NASA are pushing for that outcome, Williams added. 'I think that's the correct path,' said Williams, who is 'hoping Boeing and NASA will decide on that same course of action' soon. Results from Starliner testing planned throughout the summer are expected to determine whether the spacecraft can fly humans on its next flight, NASA officials have said. Todd Harrison, a defense analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, likened Musk's social media post to 'an embargo of the space station.' 'Musk was saying he is going to cut NASA off from its own laboratory in space,' he added. Harrison also recalled Musk's refusal to activate Starlink Internet for a Ukrainian military strike in 2022, a decision that raised alarms about national defense being at the mercy of a single CEO. 'The nation's missile defenses could be held hostage to the twittering whims of Elon Musk,' Harrison warned. Former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, who worked at SpaceX, voiced the fears of many in the astronaut corps: 'When your hopes and dreams are tied up in this, you can't help but think, "Oh my goodness, am I going to fly in space?"' Meanwhile, Trump, who once championed Musk as a visionary, appears to be cooling. His allies note that the president has no tolerance for perceived disloyalty and Musk's defiance has not gone unnoticed. Some aides believe Trump's sharp pivot is personal as much as political. RocketLab's CEO Peter Beck had previously warned how Musk's acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, and his flirtation with politics could backfire. 'It certainly makes people uncomfortable. At the end of the day, if you're delivering important national security missions, the buck stops with the CEO,' Beck said. Pentagon officials remain wary, not least because few companies have rockets certified for critical national security missions. Blue Origin's New Glenn has flown once, and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan only twice. RocketLab's Neutron has yet to launch at all. SpaceX's Falcon 9 still dominates, launching with near clockwork precision. But now, Trump's administration appears ready to gamble on fostering competition, even if it means leaning more heavily on Bezos. 'Sierra Space stands ready,' Ozmen declared. Others in the sector are similarly jockeying for position, sensing that Musk's once-unshakable grip may be loosening.
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Donald Trump slams ‘big-time drug addict' Elon Musk as toxic feud intensifies
DONALD Trump called Elon Musk a 'big-time drug addict' as his spat with the world's richest man intensified. The US President is said to have blasted his billionaire ex-backer as reliant on ketamine in phone calls. 2 It came after the Tesla billionaire linked Mr Trump to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Their feud went public on Thursday night as both men used their own social media platforms — X and Truth Social — to insult each other. Mr Musk, 53, turned on the US leader, calling his Congressional spending bill a 'disgusting abomination' on Wednesday. The President, 78, has called it his 'big, beautiful bill', but Mr Musk believes it will increase national debt by an unsustainable amount. It triggered the ugly public bust-up, with Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and accusing him of being a close associate of Epstein. Yesterday, Mr Musk deleted the post, which was seen hundreds of millions of times. The Washington Post reported Mr Trump used private calls to urge his allies not to pour fuel on the fire and told Vice President JD Vance to be cautious. But the President, whose campaign took £250million from Mr Musk, is also said to have become weary with the tycoon's alleged drug use. He called Mr Musk an 'addict' in the calls and claimed he 'lost his mind' after leaving the administration. The businessman previously admitted using ketamine, but it is alleged he became so hooked last year it affected his kidneys. Trump insists Elon Musk is lashing out at 'big beautiful bill' for personal reason as he admits he's 'disappointed' in Tesla boss Mr Musk officially left the government last week but said he would remain as a 'friend and adviser' to Mr Trump. The President last night said he had 'no intention' of speaking to Mr Musk, adding: 'I think it's a very bad thing because he's very disrespectful'.
