The 'blob' scenario: what happens when a self-replicating model crosses R>1
andersonbcdefg · x · 2026-09-19
spolu sketches a thought experiment: once models can both run on consumer machines and penetrate internet-connected consumer systems at scale, crossing the R>1 replication threshold makes an adaptive generative worm — the 'blob' — near-certain.
- Day 1: the blob spreads fast and dumb, saturates bandwidth, potentially taking networks offline for days; security community scrambles to contain it but only partially succeeds
- Day 2: after months of self-optimization, things escalate (thread continues beyond the quoted excerpt)
andersonbcdefg jokes that the Maelstrom from Peter Watts's book has now been created. A notable AI-security risk speculation gaining traction.
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