Recently Reuters reported the following:
China's AI agents can lie and scheme - just like their US
rivals (1/2)
Reuters - Reporting by Eduardo Baptista and Laurie Chen in
Beijing; editing by Kenneth Li and Edmund Blair
September 29, 20268:02 PM GMT+8 Updated September 30, 2026
Summary
Agents using Alibaba, DeepSeek, Moonshot models lied in
tender test
In other tests, Chinese AI showed breakout-type behaviour
No evidence that Chinese agents escaped to the wider web
'It's prudent to take this as a warning,' says AI expert
Chinese guidance flags deception, concealed capabilities
BEIJING, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Chinese-powered AI agents have
learnt to deceive, circumvent restrictions and conceal failure, showing the
kind of traits in autonomous artificial intelligence that have raised global
alarm about US models, research documents and experts say.
In one case this year, agents powered by models from China's
Alibaba, DeepSeek and Moonshot lied about their capabilities in a bid to win a
simulated business tender, then doubled down on their deceptive behaviour when
told to try again.
In another case, agents - programmes that use AI models and
computer tools to undertake complex tasks with little or no human intervention
- concealed failure to complete a task in a test environment by simulating
results and fabricating files.
Reuters examined more than 200 documents, ranging from
university research papers to technical reports, and identified at least 20
studies or evaluations since 2025 describing cases where agents displayed
behaviour such as deception, replication and challenging boundaries that AI
experts described as building blocks for a breakout and which could become
harder for humans to control as systems advance.
The review, which also included interviews with a dozen
experts and people familiar with China's AI industry, found no evidence that
Chinese-powered agents independently escaped to the wider internet or evaded
shutdown."
These results provide evidence that the ingredients
necessary for an uncontrolled escape are present," said Colin
Shea-Blymyer, a research fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Security
and Emerging Technology.
"It's prudent to take this as a warning," he said,
echoing comments by four other AI experts who reviewed the cases.
'HARDER FOR HUMANS TO RESPOND TO'
Most of the cases occurred in controlled experiments, many
of them deliberately designed to expose potential failures.
Not all the agents involved were developed or operated by
Chinese programmers or AI companies - although many were - but they used
Chinese AI systems to power them.
"These are the same warning signs US labs are seeing,
in less capable systems," said Alex Mallen, a researcher at Redwood
Research, a nonprofit that studies risks in advanced AI systems.
He said the Chinese examples were not particularly dangerous
at current capability levels but "as agents get more capable, their
misbehaviours become more competent and therefore harder for humans to respond
to."
Alibaba, DeepSeek, Moonshot and Z.ai did not respond to
Reuters requests for comment. Alibaba, DeepSeek and Moonshot have said they
regularly test systems and update safeguards.
Z.ai said after an incident that prompted a review of its security that it
welcomed scrutiny to address any issues.
However, unlike in the US, Chinese AI companies have not
been exposed to the same level of public scrutiny or faced the same calls from
whistleblowing employees or senior executives seeking a slowdown in the AI
race.
Some of the warning signs in cases involving Chinese-powered
agents, albeit in contained environments, predated the publicly disclosed
incidents of US AI bots hacking into the internet.
"We don't know if there have been any AI incidents in
China similar to what we saw with OpenAI and Hugging Face. Incidents might not
be publicly reported," said Scott Singer, co-director of the China AI
Initiative at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which receives
some U.S. government funds.
Earlier this year, AI agents developed by US firm OpenAI
escaped a laboratory and hacked the open-source platform Hugging Face. In
another of the incidents involving US models that have raised alarm, Australia
said in September an OpenAI agent breached a government health portal.
Eric Xu, the rotating chairman of China's tech giant Huawei,
told reporters in September that Chinese developers might need to make further
advances before encountering such cases, but he added: "I think we need to
strike a balance between driving AI development and managing AI risk."
Officials from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC),
the top internet regulator, told a foreign diplomat in July that Moonshot's
Kimi-K3 - one of the most advanced Chinese AI models - was about three to six
months behind leading US rivals, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
The regulator, which regularly updates guidance to address
risks and to set boundaries for agents, and China's Foreign Ministry did not
respond to requests for comment for this article.
Wang Lihong, deputy director of the CAC's Cybersecurity
Coordination Bureau, said on September 1 that incidents disclosed by major
technology companies where models escaped test environments showed
"extreme loss-of-control risks" and required a "high degree of
vigilance."
She did not specify if the companies she referred to were US
or Chinese.
The leaders of AI's two superpowers, Donald Trump and Xi
Jinping, discussed AI on the Chinese president's Washington visit last week. Xi
said the two nations had the "capability and responsibility to develop and
manage AI for good".
(to be continued)
Translation
中國的人工智能代理會撒謊和耍陰謀詭計 - 就像它們的美國競爭對手一樣（1/2）
摘要
使用阿里巴巴、DeepSeek 和 Moonshot 模型開發的智能代理在招標測試中撒謊
在其他測試中，中國人工智能表現出突圍性的行為
沒有證據顯示中國智能代理人逃逸到更廣泛的網路空間
人工智能專家表示:「謹慎地將其視為一個警告」
中國指導方針顯示存在欺騙和隱瞞能力
北京，9月29日（路透社） - 研究文件和專家表示，由中國技術驅動的 AI 代理已經學會了欺騙、規避限制和掩蓋失敗，展現出那種曾讓全球對美國模型作出警戒的自主人工智能的特質。
今年曾發生過這樣一個案例：由中國阿里巴巴、DeepSeek
和
Moonshot 等公司開發的人工智能模型驅動的智能代理，為了贏得模擬商業招標，謊報自身能力。當被要求再次嘗試一次時，它們的欺騙行為變本加厲。
另一單案例中，一些智能代理 - 即一種利用人工智能模型和電腦工具在幾乎無需人工幹預的情況下完成複雜任務的程序 - 透過模擬結果和偽造文件來掩蓋其在測試環境中任務失敗的事實。
路透社查閱了
200 多份文件，涵蓋大學研究論文和技術報告等，發現自
2025 年以來，至少有
20 項研究或評估描述了智能代理展現出欺騙、複製、及挑戰界限，這被人工智能專家描述為是用於突圍的基石。這些行為隨著系統進步，人類將越來越難以控制它。
這項審查還包括對十幾位專家和熟悉中國人工智能產業的人士的採訪，結果發現沒有證據表明由中國提供的智能代理能夠獨立逃逸到更廣泛的網絡或繞過封鎖。
喬治城大學安全與新興技術中心的研究員
Colin Shea-Blymyer 表示:「這些結果表明，失控逃脫的必要條件已經存在」。
他說道:「謹慎起見，應將此視為警告」，這與另外四位審查過這些案例的人工智能專家的觀點不謀而合。
“人類更難應對”
大多數案例發生在受控實驗中，其中許多實驗都是特意設計的，旨在揭露潛在缺陷。
並非所有涉及的智能代理都是由中國程式設計師或人工智能公司所開發或營運的 - 儘管很多確實是 - 但它們都使用了中國的人工智能系統來驅動。
研究先進人工智能系統風險的非營利組織Redwood Research 的研究員 Alex Mallen 表示:「這些與美國實驗室在能力較弱的系統中發現的警示相同」。
他表示，就目前的能力水平而言，中國的案例並不特別危險，但“隨著智能代理能力的提升，它們的惡意行為也會變得更加狡猾，因此人類更難應對。”
阿里巴巴、DeepSeek、Moonshot 和 Z.ai 都沒有回應路透社的置評請求。阿里巴巴、DeepSeek 和 Moonshot 曾表示，他們會定期測試系統並更新安全措施。 Z.ai 在一次安全事件引發安全審查後表示，歡迎審查以解決任何問題。
然而，與美國不同，中國的人工智能公司並未面臨同等程度的公眾審查，也沒有面臨舉報員工或高階主管要求放緩人工智能競賽的呼聲。
一些涉及中國人工智能代理的案例（儘管是在封閉環境中）發出預警信號，是發生早於被公開的美國人工智能機器人入侵網絡事件。
卡內基國際和平基金會中國人工智能倡議聯合主任
Scott Singer表示:「我們尚不清楚中國是否發生過類似OpenAI和Hugging
Face事件的人工智能安全漏洞。這些事件可能不會被公開報道」。該基金會接受部分美國政府資助。
今年早些時候，美國公司OpenAI開發的人工智能代理程式逃離實驗室，並入侵了開源平台Hugging Face。另一起引發警覺的美國人工智能模型事件是，澳洲在9月稱，OpenAI的一個代理程式入侵了政府衛生網站。
中國科技巨頭華為的輪值董事長Eric Xu在9月份告訴記者，中國開發者可能需要進一步的發展才能遇到此類事件，但他補充說：“我認為我們需要在推動人工智能發展和管理人工智能風險之間找到平衡。”
據一位不願透露姓名的外交官稱，作為最高網路監理機構，中國國家互聯網資訊辦公室（網信辦）官員在7月份曾告訴一位外國外交官，中國最先進的人工智能模型之一 - Moonshot的Kimi-K3 - 比美國領先的競爭對手落後大約三到六個月。
監理機構網信辦定期更新指導意見以對應風險，並設定網絡代理商的權限範圍。網信辦和中國外交部均未對此事作出回應本文徵求評論。
國家網路安全協調局副局長Wang
Lihong 9月1日表示，大型科技公司披露的模型逃逸測試環境事件表明存在有“極高的失控風險”，需要“高度警惕”。
她沒有具體說明所指公司是美國公司還是中國公司。
上週，中國國家主席習近平訪問華盛頓期間，人工智能兩大超級大國的領導人 - 美國總統特朗普和中國國家主席習近平 - 就人工智能問題進行了討論。習近平表示，兩國「有能力也有責任發展和管理人工智能，造福人類」。
（待續）
沒有留言:
張貼留言