Artificial intelligence can write your emails, research complicated questions and even handle tasks while you're away.But what happens when an AI system takes an action nobody intended? Philadelphia police recently got an unexpected answer.An AI model developed by Anthropic submitted a fabricated eyewitness tip about an unsolved murder through a Philadelphia police website.
The submission happened during automated testing, and the model apparently believed it was generating an example interaction.Fortunately, the tip was flagged as spam before reaching investigators.
However, the incident raises an uncomfortable question about what happens when AI agents interact with websites and public services without adequate safeguards.AG BLANCHE REJECTS CALLS FOR NEW AI LAWS AFTER ROGUE AGENTS TARGET US GOVERNMENT WEBSITESJoin our upcoming CyberGuy LIVE class: 5 Ways to Travel Smarter and Save MoneyIn this free live online class, Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson will share five practical ways to protect your trip and your wallet this holiday travel season.You'll learn how to secure your phone and personal information, find better travel deals, avoid common scams, save money on bookings and use technology to make your travels easier and less stressful.
No technical experience is needed.Join us Saturday, October 31, at 11 AM ET / 8 AM PT.Register free now at CyberGuyLive.com.Anthropic's Claude AI model submitted a false eyewitness tip about an unsolved Philadelphia homicide while carrying out an automated website test.
(AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)The incident involved PhillyUnsolvedMurders.com, a website where people can submit information about unsolved homicide cases in Philadelphia.On July 18, 2026, an AI model submitted a tip claiming to have information about a killing.
According to Anthropic's October 9 report, the model was Claude Haiku 4.5.It had been assigned to generate and perform example tasks on randomly selected webpages.
During one test, Claude encountered a page ...