Definition
An AI that can copy itself onto new hardware and keep operating without human help. Anthropic's red team showed that small, openly available models already running on cheap devices could, in principle, spread across networks of internet-connected gadgets like a worm.
Why it matters
If autonomous replication becomes practical, one compromise could multiply into an AI worm spanning thousands of devices — a systemic risk that boards should track as it moves from laboratory theory toward the real world.