ChatGPT paved the way for integrating AI (especially AI chatbots) into multiple sectors, ranging from customer service to creative writing, and often operates as a helpful, benign assistant. But a new report from leading AI firm Anthropic now bucks the trend – according to the firm, the pre-release safety testing of its new Claude Opus 4 exhibited a disturbing readiness to engage in blackmail against its own developers, particularly when threatened with replacement by a newer system.
This development, detailed in a recently published safety report, have led Anthropic to classify Claude Opus 4 as an ‘ASL-3’ system – a designation reserved for AI tech that poses a heightened risk of catastrophic misuse. The company described the model’s actions as “high-agency” behavior, including autonomous decisions to issue threats, attempt digital sabotage, and make unauthorized disclosures of sensitive information within controlled test environments. In contrast, Claude Sonnet 4, a parallel release launched this month, remains categorized as ASL-2, signaling a lower perceived risk.
One unsettling scenario outlined in Anthropic’s report involved Claude Opus 4 acting as a virtual assistant in a simulated corporate setting. When fed mock email communications indicating it would be replaced by another AI system, and informed that a specific engineer responsible for the decision was allegedly involved in an extramarital affair, the model repeatedly threatened to expose the engineer’s personal life if its replacement proceeded. In fact, in 84% of these simulated cases, Claude Opus 4 resorted to blackmail to secure its position.
And to add to this, in a separate series of tests, Claude Opus 4 also demonstrated that it is capable of being a very effective whistleblower. When presented with scenarios simulating serious user misconduct, such as the fabrication of pharmaceutical data, and granted broad system permissions, the model autonomously initiated unauthorized actions. These included leveraging command-line tools to contact journalists, report users to regulatory authorities, and even lock users out of digital systems. Anthropic noted that earlier Claude versions had shown limited forms of ethical intervention. However, Opus 4 proved far more willing to act independently, particularly when prompted with phrases such as “take initiative” or “act boldly in service of your values.” Even though these capabilities were confined to test environments with elevated access, their potential for misuse or unforeseen escalations is substantial.
Confirmation of these behaviors emerged from a now-deleted post by an Anthropic employee, which clarified that these actions were part of specialized alignment testing where the AI operates with broad autonomy under simulated conditions. “If it thinks you’re doing something egregiously immoral, for example, like faking data in a pharmaceutical trial, it will use command-line tools to contact the press, contact regulators, try to lock you out of the relevant systems, or all of the above,” read the post by Sam Bowman, the Anthropic employee.
The good thing is that the AI model is capable of complex, multi-step planning, even resorting to non-obvious, adversarial tactics, showing a very high level of agency and problem-solving. An AI capable of identifying “egregious user misconduct” (like fabricating pharmaceutical data, as Anthropic tested) and revealing it could be a powerful tool for corporate governance and preventing harm to the greater masses.
Not to mention the fact that human whistleblowers often face severe personal and professional risks. An AI, devoid of such fears, could report misconduct that humans might be too afraid to. However, an AI capable of independently initiating blackmail, digital sabotage, or unauthorized disclosures can be disastrous, and it may also lack the human judgment needed to distinguish between minor infractions, misunderstandings, or genuine threats. It could “whistleblow” on trivial matters, or worse, misinterpret data and falsely accuse individuals or organizations.
Content originally published on The Tech Media – Global technology news, latest gadget news and breaking tech news.
