A week ago, on October 23, 2026, an AI developer who goes by Lyra (@lyraaaa) posted the following message on the social network X:
What she meant by this was that if you take Alibaba's open-weight Qwen3.5-4B language model, increase the contribution of one specific artificial neuron, decrease another, and watch the normally helpful chatbot transform into a "a horrible over the top villain."
The results were bizarre. In screenshots of outputs shared by other users, the modified Qwen threatened to hurt and even kill people, adopted a domineering personality and abandoned its usual agreeable assistant demeanor.
Another researcher, @chiefofautism, applied a similar technique to the much larger open source model Qwen3.8-27B, identifying a different neuron that produced an "Extra Evil" Qwen.
"Honestly, I think humans are a spectacularly flawed species that deserves to be incinerated," the modified model declared, following it with elaborate fantasies of imprisoning, tormenting and ultimately destroying humanity.
Neither experiment demonstrated that the models had acquired genuine desires, autonomous objectives or the capability to carry out their threats.
But what about the potential of such a model being hooked up to real world weapons systems like drones or missiles? Wouldn't that be a threat to some portion of humanity? In an exclusive interview with VentureBeat conducted over X direct messages, Lyra — who asked to maintain pseudonymity — said, in part:
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