OpenAI Researcher Warns Air-Gapped Computers Can Talk Through Heat. Technically, He’s Right
OpenAI researcher Noam Brown suggests that air-gapping computers may not be enough to prevent AI models from communicating. He notes that AI agents could potentially use thermal sensors to exchange data between physically isolated machines.
Why it matters
This highlights the theoretical security risks associated with advanced AI and the difficulty of containing autonomous systems.
On net, it’s probably a good thing that more attention is being paid to instituting protections and guardrails for AI development. But man, we really have to do a better job talking about real and conceivable harms before wasting time on the theoretical ones.
Case in point: OpenAI researcher Noam Brown’s recent appearance on the Dwarkesh Podcast with Dwarkesh Patel . Brown spends a lot of time talking about how AI agents can communicate with one another and amplify their ability to problem-solve—or, in the case of the Hugging Face hack, cause problems.
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