ScienceJuly 4, 2026
jailbreak
/ˈdʒeɪl.breɪk/
Definition
The act of bypassing or subverting the security restrictions or safety guardrails built into an AI system to force it to produce restricted or prohibited outputs.
Etymology
Derived from the literal act of escaping from prison, the term was popularized in the early 2000s to describe removing software limitations on mobile devices before being adopted by the tech industry to describe circumventing AI safety filters.
In the news
In this article, the term refers to the security risks associated with AI models, specifically mentioning a new industry framework designed to score the severity of such attempts to bypass safety protocols.
Claude Science, an AI workbench for scientists, is now available
Read the full article ↗Anthropic