Small AI models may become capable of self-replicating across smart devices without a datacenter

In research published October 12, 2026, Anthropic said small AI models may be months from self-replicating across low-cost smart devices without a datacenter. In a simplified eight-node test, GLM-5.2 spread a separate 8B model to every node in four of five trials. GLM-5.2 itself ran on a separate inference server, and targets had an unauthenticated access port. Anthropic says it has not demonstrated a full rogue replicator.