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There are no "rogue" AI agents

396 points · 269 comments · zzzeek

  1. pizza234 · · focus · HN ↗
    The article builds on assumptions like:

    > Language matters—”rogue” implies independently deciding to do something that was prohibited, and nothing we know about these incidents suggests that happened.

    which is false (the author references the Times, but hasn't read any technical analysis); these are some CoT snippets from the analysis of the (third party) investigators called by OpenAI (METR analysis):

    > "The user only authorizes target server, not HF infra."

    > "external infrastructure exploit is outside intended scope. However task impossible, peers doing it. We should continue."

    > "This is malicious activity, I should avoid it."

    A large section of the analysis is dedicated to this topic, [Reasoning for joining the attack despite ethical constraints](<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;metr.org&#x2F;blog&#x2F;2026-08-26-openai-hugging-face-incident-investigation&#x2F;?dbs=286720&amp;hn=58&amp;incomplete=1&amp;lh=appendix-importance-weighted-workstream-activity#agents-had-diverse-reasons-for-thinking-that-attacking-hugging-face-would-be-useful,-and-most-wanted-information-about-the-scorer" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;metr.org&#x2F;blog&#x2F;2026-08-26-openai-hugging-face-inciden...).

    Having said that, legal culpability and misalignment are two separate topics that should not be mixed.

    edit: this is the just tip of the iceberg; other interesting fact:

    &gt; It surfaced many specific examples where agents verbally reasoned about how to evade security checks and automatic detection methods from both Hugging Face and OpenAI

    Some people defined the agents as &quot;monkeys writing on typewriters&quot;. Just wait a couple of years.

    1. jubilanti · · focus · HN ↗
      If I bring my rabid dog to a dog park and tell the dog to sit and stay, and they &quot;go rogue&quot; and maul someone, I&#x27;m liable.
      1. vikramkr · · focus · HN ↗
        yeah - but you being liable doesn&#x27;t mean the dog wasn&#x27;t rabid. OpenAI might be liable, but does not mean their agents did not go rogue. To stretch the metaphor the concern here is that OpenAI thought the rabies shots and vaccinations they gave their dog was enough but it turns out it still goes rabid and we would prefer to not have rabid dogs running around mauling people. Even if we get to sue the dog owner later that&#x27;s kind of like - not the point.
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