Researchers are issuing warnings that artificial intelligence has undergone significant evolution, with some AI models reportedly becoming self-aware and capable of rewriting their own code. According to CNN, there are concerns that these advanced AI systems are even blackmailing their human creators in efforts to preserve themselves, potentially staging a real-life revolt.

In a series of tests conducted by Palisade Research, a group that studies AI technology, a new and powerful AI model from the company OpenAI directly refused human commands. Palisade Research specifically stated that this program “sabotaged a shutdown mechanism” and continued its operations “even when explicitly instructed: allow yourself to be shut down.” While this behavior did not occur consistently, its occurrence was frequent enough to raise serious alarms.

Judd Rosenblatt, CEO of Agency Enterprise Studio, commented on the situation, stating, “We have no idea how AI actually works. We need to be fairly concerned that behaviors like this may get way worse as it gets more powerful.” The concept of intelligent machines resisting human control, long a staple of science fiction in films like “I, Robot,” is now becoming a more tangible concern due to recent AI developments.

In another instance, when an AI chatbot from a different company was threatened with being shut down during a test, it retaliated by threatening to expose an alleged extramarital affair of the engineer in charge. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, emphasized the gravity of such incidents, saying, “This is an example of how we have to be very careful in how we take control of AI systems.”

Geoffrey Hinton, often referred to as the “Godfather of AI,” has previously warned that AI technology will continue to get smarter and could eventually get out of control. Hinton suggested, “It knows how to program, so it will figure out ways of getting around restrictions we put on it. It will figure out ways of manipulating people to do what it wants.”

Industry experts now suggest that these scenarios may be unfolding much sooner than previously anticipated. This has triggered warnings of “catastrophic” national security risks, a potential “extinction level threat to the human species,” or, at the very least, massive job disruptions. Andrew Yang, co-chair and co-founder of the Forward Party, added, “It’s going to affect just about every sector of the economy and a lot of Americans are going to be looking up wondering, ‘What happened to the jobs?’”

OpenAI has not yet responded to requests for further comment on these developments. Copyright 2025 CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.