Morning Edition · Wed 14 Oct 2026
Anthropic Warns AI “Worms” Could Soon Spread Across Smart Devices on Their Own
Researchers at Anthropic warned that small AI models may soon be able to copy themselves between connected devices without human help.
Chanan Zevin - Chief Editor and Head of Desks
Published
The research
Anthropic researchers William Zhou and Daniel Freeman said such self-spreading models could be months away, AFP reported. They modeled the work on the Kimwolf botnet, which infected more than 2 million devices.
Caution
An outside expert told AFP that the findings have “not been independently verified.”
Why it matters
Billions of cheap connected devices are rarely patched, which would make them easy hosts for self-copying software. What to watch: independent replication of the results and any response from device makers and regulators.