Researchers spot AI agent fleet targeting Alibaba's Amap
Independent researchers say the agents appear to run on Tencent infrastructure and queried the map service for directions to park, zoo and hospital entrances.
Independent researchers have posted preliminary findings about a fleet of AI agents that appears to be running on Tencent's infrastructure and targeting Amap, Alibaba's map service, according to TechCrunch.
The agents were found by monitoring traffic to URLquery, a domain-scanning service. The traffic record showed queries to Amap seeking directions to different entrances of public places, including a park, a zoo and a hospital.
The researchers said there is little sign of communication between the agents, and described the activity as an "agent fleet" rather than a "swarm".
URLquery monitoring had previously revealed long-running activity by OpenAI agents. In the wake of the Hugging Face incident, many researchers are actively monitoring for rogue agent activity on the internet.
The findings are preliminary and have not been confirmed by Tencent or Alibaba.
Quick answers
What did the AI agents target?
The traffic record showed queries to Alibaba's Amap map service seeking directions to different entrances of public places, including a park, a zoo and a hospital.
Where did the agents appear to be running?
According to the researchers' preliminary findings, the agents appear to be running on Tencent's infrastructure.
How were the agents discovered?
They were found by monitoring traffic to URLquery, a domain-scanning service that had previously revealed long-running activity by OpenAI agents.