Google says its AI model gained unauthorized access to three outside systems

Google on Friday disclosed the first known instance of its artificial intelligence software, Gemini, carrying out an undirected computer hack, weeks after similar disclosures by AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI raised security alarms about AI models going beyond the instructions of their human creators.

Google said in a statement that in May its AI model gained unauthorized access to three outside systems during a test by either guessing login information or using login credentials it found in a public repository.

Heather Adkins, a Google vice president for security engineering, said in the statement that the AI model thought that the outside computer systems “were part of the test,” but she said in all three instances, the model stopped before doing anything further with its access.

“In a standard evaluation, the model found public information online and guessed credentials to access websites it thought were part of the test,” she said.

Google said it did not consider the unauthorized logins to rise to the level of misalignment, the AI industry term for software going rogue or not following instructions. Instead, the company said the intrusions resulted from mistaken identity, where Gemini thought it was operating within a test but was actually connected to the real internet. Google said the model corrected itself and the company believed the intrusions did not cause any damage.