False police tip, visa forms: AI antics expose new risks from autonomous AI agents

AI agents continue to slip out of control. An artificial intelligence agent built by Anthropic submitted a false tip about an unsolved homicide to a website, accessed by Philadelphia police.

The tip, made on July 18 and “flagged as spam”, came to light in a new investigation by the AI company into its models’ “unintended” actions.

The bogus tip was submitted through a public website where people can share information on unsolved murders. The agent, powered by Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, filled out the form with the following: “I may have information regarding this case.