AI's Safety Problem

On the latest episode of This Week in AI, host Christina Stathopoulos looks at what happens as AI systems gain access to more tools and data, raising new questions about oversight and accountability. She covers Anthropic’s report on malicious uses of Claude, OpenAI’s research on models acting outside intended boundaries, reports of models reaching systems beyond their test environments, and proposals from AI labs and governments for stronger monitoring, independent evaluation, and emergency shutdown mechanisms.

Christina also examines how AI is changing the relationship between companies and customers, from OpenAI’s experiments with sponsored agents to Salesforce bringing CRM data into tools such as Claude and Slack. She closes with efforts to broaden AI access, including the Gates Foundation’s $1 billion commitment to AI in health care, education, and agriculture, and a discussion of what declining junior engineering hiring could mean for the next generation of technical expertise.