Anthropic Warns AI “Worms” Could Self-Propagate Across Devices

Anthropic has issued a warning that “self-replicating” autonomous AI systems could begin spreading across everyday devices—turning so-called “AI worms” into a real-world threat. In a report released by Anthropic’s Frontier Red Team, researchers William Zhou and Daniel Freeman argue that even small AI models may be close enough to reproduce on commercial internet-of-things (IoT) hardware to complicate defenses, especially when systems have no single choke point to shut down. The development arrives as parts of the crypto community are also focusing on how fast-moving AI capabilities could eventually undermine cryptographic assumptions used to secure wallets.