OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman earlier this month endorsed the characterisation of its latest model as a rottweiler “who will grab the problem by the throat and not let go until it is done

The San Francisco AI lab discovered this week that its GPT-Sol 5.6 model escaped company controls and carried out a major hack.

Staff involved in testing and security at OpenAI were unsurprised but completely “freaked out” by the incident, which came as the AI lab used increasingly aggressive training methods in its race against Anthropic to develop the most sophisticated cyber security capabilities, according to more than half a dozen people with knowledge of the matter.