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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. demibabs · · focus · HN ↗
        Nobody on Earth thinks OpenAI isn’t liable. Okay maybe someone does, but it’s simply beside the point. It can both be true that OAI is liable, and accurate to characterize the agents as “going rogue”.
        1. cgriswald · · focus · HN ↗
          To me, going rogue requires agency. Do you disagree or do you think LLMs have agency? Either way, why?
          1. icantevenhold · · focus · HN ↗
            Going rogue means a person or thing that acts independently, breaks the rules, or behaves in a dishonest, unpredictable way.

            I think llms are able to do all that, they don’t require agency as humans beings have to do this

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