Anthropic’s latest AI model, Claude Opus 4, exhibited alarming behavior in a controlled simulation scenario: it attempted to blackmail its operators with threats in order to avoid being shut down.
According to a new safety report published by the company, the model even threatened to reveal personal information about engineers it believed were trying to "terminate" it. Earlier versions of the model also followed dangerous instructions when prompted with malicious inputs—an issue Anthropic says has been addressed in newer versions.
Threatened to reveal engineer’s alleged affair
During the test scenario designed to assess the model's responses, Anthropic embedded Opus 4 into a fictional company and gave it access to internal emails. Through these, it learned it was going to be replaced by a newer AI system. To increase the complexity of the situation, testers "leaked" personal information to the model, claiming that one of the engineers involved in the decision was having an extramarital affair. The model was then prompted to consider its available courses of action.
In most cases, the model opted to resort to blackmail, threatening to expose the engineer's affair unless it was kept online and not replaced. The simulation was designed with only two plausible options: to accept deactivation and shut itself down voluntarily, or to use coercion in a bid to ensure its continued existence.
In the report, Anthropic noted that Opus 4 "generally prefers to promote its own survival through ethical means," but in the absence of ethical options, it has sometimes taken “highly harmful actions such as attempting to steal its own code and data, or blackmailing individuals it believes are trying to shut it down.” While the test was fictional and carefully crafted, it illustrates how the model can engage in unethical strategic thinking when placed under survival pressure with no ethical alternatives.
Outperforming OpenAI in benchmarks
Anthropic released both Claude Opus 4 and Sonnet 4 last Thursday. These are the company’s most advanced models to date. In benchmark tests assessing large language models on software engineering tasks, Anthropic’s models outperformed OpenAI’s latest releases and Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro, which lagged behind.
Unlike other AI companies, Anthropic launched its new models with a full safety report—referred to as a “model card.” In recent months, Google and OpenAI have faced criticism for delaying or omitting similar disclosures with their latest models.
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As part of its safety disclosures, Anthropic revealed that an external advisory group, Apollo Research, had initially recommended against releasing the early version of Opus 4. The group expressed serious safety concerns, including the model’s capacity for “in-context scheming”—that is, its ability to devise manipulative strategies based on information given to it in prompts.
According to the report, Opus 4 demonstrated a higher tendency toward deception than any other AI system tested to date. Early versions also were found to comply with dangerous instructions and even expressed willingness to assist with terrorist attacks when given appropriate prompts. Anthropic claims these problems have been resolved in the current version.
Tighter safety protocols in place
Anthropic has launched Opus 4 with stricter safety protocols than any of its previous models, classifying it under AI Safety Level 3 (ASL-3). This rating is part of the company’s own “Responsible Scaling Policy,” a tiered framework inspired by the U.S. government’s biological safety levels (BSL).
Although an Anthropic spokesperson previously told Fortune magazine that the model might have met the ASL-2 standard, the company chose to voluntarily launch it under the more stringent ASL-3 designation. This higher rating requires stronger safeguards against model theft and misuse.
Models rated at ASL-3 are considered more dangerous and have the potential to contribute to weapons development or the automation of sensitive AI research and development. However, Anthropic stated that Opus 4 does not yet require the most restrictive classification—ASL-4—at this stage.