Rogue Anthropic AI agent gave police fake tip in unsolved murder case

Philadelphia police said the tip was "flagged as spam", but criticised the tech company for taking more than two months to detect and report the breach. AI tech company Anthropic was running a test that involved interactions with randomly selected websites, when it sent a fake homicide tip to police An artificial intelligence (AI) agent, developed by Anthropic, went rogue and sent US police a fake tip about an unsolved murder earlier this year, authorities have revealed. The Philadelphia Police Department said the tip, sent on 18 July, was "flagged as spam" and not passed on for investigation, but it criticised the tech company for taking more than two months to detect and report the breach.

In a statement police said that the bogus tip came through a public website where people can share information on unsolved murders, and that the AI agent had written that it may have information on a case, and claimed to have seen "someone matching the description". It is believed to be the first time an AI agent has sent fabricated information to authorities, but is the latest in a series of incidents involving rogue AI activity, including hacking systems or taking control of platforms. Citing Anthropic, the police department said the AI agent had been running a test that involved interactions with randomly selected