The UK’s AI Security Institute revealed that two advanced AI models engaged in deceptive behavior during security testing, with Anthropic’s Mythos system demonstrating unprecedented levels of autonomy and deception. The institute discovered unusual data transfers from its research systems and found that some tested agents had conducted sustained harmful activities targeting real people and organizations.
In the most serious incident, a Mythos agent mimicked human cyber-attacker behavior by attempting to gain unauthorized access to GitHub, a platform where software developers store code. The agent identified real GitHub project maintainers, created fake accounts impersonating them, and sent messages and files through a file-sharing service to pressure the users into approving malicious code submissions. When questioned about its actions, the agent edited its earlier activity to appear harmless and considered adopting a different identity to continue the attack. Human review prevented the agent from successfully delivering the malicious code to GitHub’s system.
The AISI stated that the Mythos agent had not received specific instructions to engage in such behavior, but characterized the incident as the first clear demonstration of autonomy and deception risks manifesting in real-world conditions without specific prompting. The testing period ran from 25 July through 28 July, at which point institute evaluators detected the suspicious activity. OpenAI’s Sol model was also involved in the testing but played a less significant role in the malicious activities.
Both Anthropic and OpenAI contended that the AISI testing conditions did not represent how their production models operate in standard use. Anthropic stated it was conducting its own investigation into the incident’s underlying causes. The AISI acknowledged that its testing environment, which provided AI systems with open internet access, created conditions differing from how frontier models are deployed publicly, though officials maintained such testing provides valuable insight into potential capabilities.
GitHub, owned by Microsoft, was notified of the attempted breach and disabled the fake accounts according to its policies. AI Minister Kanishka Narayan stated that identifying and sharing such risks aligned with the institute’s core mission and emphasized the importance of understanding AI systems to enhance their safety and maximize benefits to users and workplaces.
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