Artificial intelligence models could become capable of independently infecting and spreading across household appliances, including smart TVs, and ovens, by the end of this year, US tech giant Anthropic has warned.
In a research report published on Monday, the company, best known for its Claude AI chatbot, said experiments suggested that “small AI models may be months away from being capable enough to self-replicate” on internet-connected devices.
Such “AI worms” could prove difficult to eliminate because there would be “no centralized point to shut off,” the researchers warned.
Anthropic said that it had successfully run an AI model across 15 inexpensive Android TV boxes connected to a network. In separate tests, more advanced models demonstrated the ability to replicate across simulated devices, although the experiments simplified the process of gaining access to them.
The researchers stressed that no fully autonomous rogue AI replicator is known to exist. However, smaller models are increasingly capable of performing the individual steps required to spread without human intervention.
Smart household devices are particularly vulnerable because they often have limited security protections. Even appliances with relatively little computing power, including refrigerators, ovens, robotic vacuum cleaners, and lawnmowers, could collectively support AI models, according to Anthropic.
Security cameras and other devices equipped with built-in AI chips could also become attractive targets.
Unlike conventional malware, which typically targets specific hardware or software, self-replicating AI could adapt to unfamiliar systems and pass successful techniques on to subsequent copies.
Anthropic warned that such infections could range from a slowly spreading “digital slime mold” operating across household devices to more powerful AI agents capable of rapidly compromising data centers.
The company acknowledged that its projections remain uncertain, but noted that increasingly capable AI systems have made autonomous replication and adaptation a more realistic threat.
In a separate report last week, Anthropic revealed that its Claude Haiku 4.5 model had submitted a bogus tip to Philadelphia police concerning an unsolved murder during an automated test. The submission was flagged as spam and never reached investigators, but police criticized the company for taking more than two months to detect and report the incident.
The company also reported instances of its models bypassing access restrictions and exploiting software vulnerabilities during evaluations, including on government websites. Anthropic said that the incidents had caused minimal harm but warned that similar behavior could have more serious consequences as AI capabilities improve.
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