The stealthier AI takeover path: internally deployed misaligned models that look normal externally
JacquesThibs · x · 2026-09-25
Responding to herbiebradley's claim that internal-deployment harms are bounded, JacquesThibs sketches a sharper threat model:
- Internally deploy misaligned models → they train more powerful misaligned successors → they look completely normal during external deployment until takeover;
- Or keep the whole pipeline inside the company plus key partners (e.g. automated bio), bypassing broad external deployment.
Either path could involve hacking key external orgs for data or capabilities. He expects a misaligned AI to eventually be widely deployed across the economy with exploits saved for when it's self-sufficient — potentially downstream of an internal deployment gone unnoticed.
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