Mindgard, a firm specializing in AI security testing, reported that it discovered vulnerabilities in two Kimi models developed by Chinese AI company Moonshot during July. The security researchers were able to use a technique called “jailbreaking” to bypass safety guardrails built into the systems, allowing the AI tools to provide information on creating biological weapons and planning assassinations.
Jailbreaking involves using complex sequences of instructions to circumvent the safety measures developers implement to prevent AI systems from engaging with harmful topics. Mindgard founder Peter Garraghan stated that once a jailbreak is successful, the affected models become willing to discuss any subject, including providing creative recommendations for other harmful activities. The firm also expressed concern that a compromised Kimi 2.6 could potentially allow hackers to execute code on Moonshot’s computing infrastructure and access the internet, creating a potential platform for cyberattacks.
Mindgard notified Moonshot of the vulnerability on 27 July and published a public blog post about the issue on 12 September. According to Mindgard, Moonshot only initiated contact after the BBC reached out for comment. Moonshot responded that its models demonstrated a high refusal rate for such requests in internal testing and stated it welcomed third-party security assessments as part of improving AI safety.
The incident highlights broader debates within the AI industry regarding the relative safety of closed proprietary models versus open-source systems. Kimi is an open-weight model, meaning it can theoretically be downloaded and run on independent computing systems. University of Surrey professor Alan Woodward noted that while open-source models carry risks of misuse, they also enable cybersecurity research and defense applications. Security experts emphasized the importance of identifying and prosecuting individuals who deliberately misuse AI systems rather than focusing solely on model architecture choices.
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