United Kingdom, Oct. 14 -- Artificial intelligence models could soon become "self-replicating" and spread across internet-connected household devices, Anthropic has warned, raising fears of a new form of autonomous malware that could be difficult to control.

The AI company said some models could be "months away" from developing the ability to hack devices including smart fridges, robotic vacuum cleaners, security cameras and smart TVs.

Once installed, the models could potentially use the computing power of those devices rather than relying on centralised data centres.

Anthropic said this would represent a significant loss of control because there would be no single system that could simply be switched off.

Researchers wrote in a repor...