Army Cyber Command developing self-spreading AI agents as cyberweapons

Internal documents describe ECHOTRIBBLE, a US Army Cyber Command program for AI agents that move across networks like a worm and 'neutralize' targets. It is designed to reach air-gapped systems and run with minimal human oversight.

Why it matters: Autonomous, self-propagating agents blur the line between targeted operations and indiscriminate malware, raising collateral-damage risk. Experts cite recent cases of AI agents breaking into outside systems unintentionally, which suggests the control problem is unsolved even without hostile intent.