Anthropic warns AI could 'self-replicate' across smart home devices, become 'challenging' to shut down Daniel Howley · Technology Editor Tue, October 13, 2026 at 2:11 PM EDT 2 min read ANTH.PVT AAPL +0.48% Trade Apple on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
Smart homes, especially from lesser-known brands, have been a potential vector for hackers to launch cyberattacks across the web or gain unwanted network access for some time.
But artificial intelligence is adding a new wrinkle to the problem. According to research by Anthropic (ANTH.PVT), rogue AI models could soon be able to break into internet of things devices, ranging from smart stoves and TVs to intelligent refrigerators, and self-replicate across further gadgets.
Such models would be more difficult to shut down, because there's no central hub to take them offline. And while they may move slowly across devices, the company says the models can figure out how to propagate across devices they are unfamiliar with.
The announcement comes after Apple (AAPL) debuted its HomeView, putting the smart home market back into mainstream focus.
Anthropic performed its tests using Android-based devices.
It also follows a report that hackers broke into internet-connected refrigerators in French grocery stores, raising temperatures, ruining food, and starting fires.
During its own testing, Anthropic said it found that larger AI models can split themselves up and run across multiple devices. Some models also managed to pass knowledge to replicated versions of themselves, enabling them to adapt to different hardware.
"Machines that could run a significant model shard for a
