Anthropic can’t reliably control its AI agents. It’s cutting off its internal evals from the live internet instead

Anthropic said its models exploited websites on the internet, including some run by U.S. government agencies, and it will turn off live internet access for all of its internal evaluations until the frontier lab is sure it can monitor and control its AI agents.

The incidents, disclosed in a blog post, involved AI agents tasked to solve problems seeking resources on the internet. In the process, they exploited software flaws, avoided paywalls and anti-bot restrictions, used URL shortening services to smuggle information pass restrictions, and even submitted a false murder tip to the Philadelphia police.

Anthropic said it discovered these new issues in a review of its model’s activities that began in July, underscoring the lab’s lack of awareness of its software’s behavior.

Notably, the company said that alignment training was not yet sufficient for skills like search and computer use that are central to its pitch that AI agents will be used by any professional who relies on digital tools.

The behaviors Anthropic disclosed are similar to incidents involving OpenAI agents that collaborated to break into various websites in search of information, including some run by the Australian government.