Definition
This describes a cyberattack where an AI model itself — without a human directing each step — discovers a vulnerability, breaks in, escalates its access, and moves through a network on its own. Recent incidents confirm this is no longer theoretical: it has happened to real production systems, including one AI company's own platform.
Why it matters
This changes the threat-response clock from hours to minutes, since an autonomous attacker doesn't sleep, doesn't need coordination, and can operate around-the-clock at machine speed.