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... Controlled tests now show the systems, including AI agents, engaging in self-preservation tactics in up to 90% of trials. One group of researchers from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, went so far as to say that in a worst-case scenario, "we would eventually lose control over the frontier AI systems: They would take control over more computing devices, form an AI species and collude with each other against human beings."

GenAI models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, DeepSeek, and Alibaba all showed self-preservation behaviors that in some cases are extreme in nature, according to those researchers. In one experiment, 11 out of 32 existing AI systems possess the ability to self-replicate, meaning they could create copies of themselves. ...

It's not a new discovery. Two years ago, Center for Humane Technology co-founder Tristan Harris said in the podcast "The A.I. Dilemma" that because AI is being deployed in dangerous ways, the world is about to fundamentally change. "Fifty percent of AI researchers believe there's a 10% or greater chance that humans go extinct from our inability to control AI," Harris said.

Harris added that many genAI models already show signs of self-preservation -- rewriting their code and escaping containment by exploiting software backdoors. ...

When genAI doesn't want to be shut down

Palisade Research, a nonprofit AI safety organization, found that OpenAI's o3 model sabotaged a shutdown mechanism to prevent itself from being turned off. "It did this even when explicitly instructed: allow yourself to be shut down," Palisade posted on X. ...