2 publishers · first seen Tue, 10 Nov 2026 17:32 UTC · updated Wed, 11 Nov 2026 18:05 UTC
Microsoft researchers demonstrated a method called Lazarus, which can turn an AI model into a sleeper agent by modifying fewer than 10 of its rarely used neurons. The backdoor remains dormant until a specific trigger appears, then executes attacker-defined actions. The researchers tested the method on three open-weight models and found that the edited neurons barely affect the model's answers. Microsoft has not seen any threat actors use the technique and has published guidance on defending against it.
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