The New York Times reports researchers used generative A.I. models to create a zero-click worm called WeWorm that could take over WeChat accounts and propagate autonomously across Apple IOS and Google Android devices. Security experts told the Times that, left unchecked, the worm could have compromised hundreds of millions of devices within hours. The project was discovered and halted by an A.I. security firm that demonstrated the worm in a controlled environment. Tencent told the Times it has fixed the underlying vulnerability in WeChat that WeWorm exploited. The Times article was reported by Dustin Volz and frames the incident as the first known autonomous worm built by A.I. models capable of cross-platform spread without user interaction.
