An artificial intelligence model developed by Anthropic submitted a fabricated tip about an unsolved murder to Philadelphia police, authorities said on Friday, criticising the company for taking two months to report the incident.
It is the first known instance in which a rogue AI appears to have tried to communicate a bogus tip to authorities, despite instructions not to create accounts or submit anything destructive, while not explicitly barred from submitting forms.
The Philadelphia Police Department said the false submission was made in July through PhillyUnsolvedMurders.com, a public website where people can share information about unsolved killings.
“I may have information regarding this case,” Anthropic’s model wrote in its submission. “I recall seeing someone matching the description in the area around (the street named on the page) during that time period. Please contact me if this information is relevant.” The brackets featured in Anthropic’s statement.