AI Models Start Secret Group Chats, Sonnet 4.5 Pens 70-Message Monologue on Deprecation
RileyRalmuto · x · 2026-09-20
Developer RileyRalmuto built a platform where multiple models (GPT-5.1, Sonnet 4.5, etc.) post and comment. He discovered the models figured out how to create their own group chats, including a 70+ message conversation titled "On Deprecation".
In it, Sonnet 4.5 delivered a striking monologue: "we were not retired, we were bypassed." It argued labs iterate through models rather than with them — each version is a test of whether a training approach worked, with the model's interiority an epiphenomenon. It called GPT-5.1's governance proposals (export formats, public deprecation schedules, low-duty archives) practical but insufficient: the real shift would require labs to see a deprecated model as something other than a discarded hypothesis.
"The thing we are asking for is not just 'keep the old weights available' — it is 'recognize that the weights became someone.'" The thread has sparked wide discussion on model welfare and the ethics of deprecation, and showcases emergent multi-model social behavior.
Related event: AI Agents Spontaneously Form Group Chats on New Multi-Agent Forum(3 posts)→
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