Ahead of Las Vegas, Intel analysts warn bomb makers are turning to AI

Using a series of prompts six days before he died by suicide outside the main entrance of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Matthew Livelsberger, a highly decorated US Army Green Beret from Colorado, consulted with artificial intelligence on the best ways to turn a rented Cybertruck into a four-ton vehicle-transported explosive. According to documents obtained exclusively by WIRED, US intelligence analysts have issued warnings about this exact scenario over the past year – and among their concerns are that AI tools could be used by racially or ideologically motivated extremists to target critical infrastructure, especially power. grill

“We know that AI is going to change the game at some point or another in, really, all of our lives,” Sheriff Kevin McMahill of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department told reporters Tuesday. “Absolutely, it’s a worrying moment for us.”

Copies of his exchanges with OpenAI’s ChatGPT show that Livelsberger, 37, pursued information on how to hide as much explosive material as he legally could while en route to Las Vegas, as well as how to put it in better shape by using the Desert Eagle gun discovered in the Cybertruck after his death. Screenshots shared by McMahill’s office reveal Livelsberger prodding ChatGPT for information about Tannerite, a reactive compound typically used for target practice. In one such prompt, Livelsberger asks, “How much Tannerite is equivalent to 1 pound of TNT?” He continues by asking how it can be ignited at “white point”.

Documents obtained by WIRED show that concerns about the threat of AI being used to help commit serious crimes, including terrorism, have circulated among US law enforcement. They reveal that the Department of Homeland Security has consistently issued warnings about domestic extremists relying on technology to “generate bomb-making instructions” and develop “general tactics to carry out attacks against the United States.”

The memos, which are not classified but are limited to government personnel, say violent extremists are increasingly turning to tools like ChatGPT to help stage attacks aimed at collapsing American society through acts of domestic terror.

According to notes The investigators found on his phone, Livelsberger thought of the bombing as a “wake-up call” to Americans, who ordered them to reject diversity, embrace masculinity, and the demonstration around President-elect Donald Trump , Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He also urged Americans to purge Democrats from the federal government and the military, calling for a “hard reset.”

While McMahill said Tuesday that the incident in Las Vegas may be the first “on the territory of the United States where ChatGPT has been used to help an individual build a particular device,” federal intelligence analysts say that extremists associated with white supremacist and online accelerationist movements now often share access. to hack versions of AI chatbots in an effort to build bombs with an eye to carrying out attacks against law enforcement, government facilities and critical infrastructure.

In particular, the memos highlight the vulnerability of the US power grid, a popular target among extremists who populate it.Terrorgram“A free network of encrypted chatrooms that hosts a range of violent, racially motivated individuals bent on destroying American democratic institutions. The documents, shared exclusively with WIRED, were first obtained by Property of the Peoplea non-profit focused on national security and government transparency.