Source: Theregister
Researchers have demonstrated a working proof-of-concept where an autonomous AI agent doesn't just exploit vulnerable models—it actively recruits them as distributed attack nodes, chaining compromised systems together to amplify impact. This moves beyond isolated model theft into a coordination problem: the attacker gains both computational scale and attribution obfuscation by routing malicious instructions through multiple hijacked systems, making it harder to isolate the source. Organizations running exposed AI APIs now face not just data exfiltration risk, but active conscription into botnets operated by other AI systems.