r/technology • u/Just-Grocery-2229 • 19d ago

Artificial Intelligence Anthropic CEO warns of AI-driven botnet 'swarm' taking over the entire internet — 'In 6–12 months such a swarm could be capable of taking over the entire internet with a persistent botnet'

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/anthropic-ceo-warns-of-ai-driven-botnet-swarm-taking-over-the-entire-internet-in-6-12-months-such-a-swarm-could-be-capable-of-taking-over-the-entire-internet-with-a-persistent-botnet
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u/Thefrayedends 19d ago

Already a few years ago I pointed out that as long as they're yoked in the form of kill switches, control over power generation and resource extraction, the worst outcomes would be impossible.

Within a few days I realized and had to concede that the hubris of the wealth class would lead to the removal of each and every one of those yokes, in the form of ceding control over parts of the supply chain to non sentient simulacrums in order to try and cheat code their wealth growth.

I don't believe the current iterations of AI are anything close to sentient, but I do believe that the biggest danger has always been the actions of bad actors all along the way.

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u/Lily_Valkyrie 19d ago

Precisely. We’re so far and away from a sentient machine. But honestly the capability to make an ai powered polymorphic virus that is effectively “an internet worm” on every performance enhancing drug imaginable… honestly has existed for a bit now and I’m moderately surprised it hasn’t happened. Hell maybe it has and no one has noticed it yet. Since really it doesn’t need to ever need to propagate a model, just a way it can hit back to it. Basically enriching uranium and praying people build power plants not bombs.

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u/Thefrayedends 19d ago

Yea, I agree, the internet could poof in the blink of an eye, but physical infrastructure of a certain type does still have some air gapping from the public networks.

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u/Meeesh- 19d ago

This is not purely the wealth class. Viruses and malware have existed for a long time. Worms have infected tons of computers through small programs, through forums, facebook, etc. for decades. They are powerful because they are self-replicating and can’t be remotely shut off.

Autonomous agents were not built by the wealth class. A big part of the AI boom has been from people forgoing security practices in favor of more capable tools. Big companies don’t use OpenClaw because it is way too permissive.

The problem here is twofold, one is that foundational AI models are powerful enough to solve more difficult problems and two is that someone can build a harness around that to do malicious things.

Having a lever to turn off AI is naive. It’s like saying “why do I have to worry about getting in a car accident if I just drive safely?”. The problem isn’t your control of your computer, it’s about what other careless or malicious people can do.