Original subtitles

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate

yet equally important groups. The police who investigate crime and the district

attorneys who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

Very nice, Mallory.

Let the wheel do the work.

You can't rush this.

Centering your clay takes longer than you think.

Same when making your hollow.

No sudden movements.

Put in the time.

What are you doing?

Meg, look, I... Is it her?

Is it Eliana?

I just needed to check my slack. You know what? No.

No!

Meg.

Come on, Meg.

Make the choice, Steve. It's me or her.

Can't we just go back inside and finish our bowls?

They're faces, Steve.

Faces.

Faces, Meg.

You're insane.

Here, let me help you.

Great, Steve.

Very mature.

Your victim is a white male, Stephen Kelly.

Canvassed, no cameras out here.

Got his wallet, cash, all that, but no phone.

Took one GSW to the head from behind. Got one 9mm casing.

Close range, too.

Stippling around the wound.

What's on his hands?

I don't know. Some kind of dirt, clay, something.

Call came in to 911 at 7.28 p.m. Who called it in?

That lady.

She was out for a run, heard the shot.

Guy was dead by the time she got to him.

She saw somebody running away across the FDR headed toward Alphabet City.

Any identifiers?

Person was wearing a blue New York Empire's cap. That's pretty much it.

This was in his pocket.

Steve Kelly.

Advanced alignment.

It's one of those big AI companies like Anthropic.

One of these days these geniuses will figure out a way to keep people from

shooting each other.

Steve was a software engineer.

One of our best.

Brilliant. Though, it's a cover charge at a place like this.

Did Kelly have any problems lately? Anything unusual happening in his life?

No, not that I know of, and I work with him every day.

Wife, kids?

We didn't see a wedding band.

No, none of that. This place tends to be all-encompassing.

I try to encourage everybody to have a life.

The truth is, he was a true believer in our mission.

What's that?

What exactly do you guys do here?

Oh, come on, Chuck. I know we're just a couple of dumb cops, but give us a try.

We've built the most powerful tool for expanding human capability the world has

ever known.

It's called Eliana.

Evolutionary language inference automated nano-advantage.

Really rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?

You know, everyone who's ever lived on this planet, every doctor, scientist...

Detective. Has operated with incomplete information processed by a flawed and

limited tool.

The human brain.

That's over.

That's a good thing.

If you believe in progress.

So nothing from his work. What about family?

Just hung up with Kelly's parents. They're on their way in from Chicago.

Did they mention that he'd been in any trouble or had any problems?

Nothing. Only recent news was that he had a new girlfriend or new-ish.

Hadn't even met her yet. Meg was all they knew. Hey, check this out.

Kelly's cell phone died 20 minutes before he got killed.

And the GPS says it happened somewhere around 5th and Avenue C.

See if you can pull any video.

Make a choice, Steve. It's me or her.

Jesus, Meg.

Not a great look, Meg.

Wait. I didn't hurt Steve.

What were you arguing about?

You said it's me or her.

Who's her?

Ileana. In the AI system?

Yes.

Steve was glued to his devices, to his job, to a point that I got worried for

his health.

I made him take this stupid pottery class.

Just do something analog for once. Work with your hands.

And? And I caught him sneaking a peek at his phone.

We agreed to unplug.

I flipped out.

What did you do after Steve walked off?

I went back inside to finish the pottery class.

Steve was a great guy.

Pottery instructor confirmed it.

Girlfriend was inside the studio when the 911 call came in.

Hey, where are we with Kelly's electronic data?

Landed a little while ago. Nothing too exciting so far, but we got something to

show you.

This is the video of the altercation between Kelly and his girlfriend.

Now, you see that guy there in the background?

Blue Empire's cap.

Yeah. Now, this is a video from a few minutes later. Kelly's closer to the

park by now. This is after he stormed off from his girlfriend.

And right there.

Same guy following him. No cap, though.

Yeah.

It's in his hand.

Now we just gotta figure out who the hell he is.

Where are we with our Empire's fan?

Facial rec was a bust.

A reverse ping cell tower was in their both videos.

Generated two lists of phones.

Only one phone was in the vicinity of both locations.

But it's a burner.

Okay, well, track down the registration number, figure out the carrier, and find

out where the shooter bought the damn thing.

Way ahead of you.

So what's that have to do with me?

You tied the phone registration number to this store.

You sold it to the person we're looking for, right?

Why are you looking for him?

He killed someone.

We're going to need the video of the sale and the credit card number for the

purchase if there was one. Yeah, I think I'll pass.

Excuse me? I believe in safeguarding my customers' privacy, and I don't like

cops. And I don't like killers, so we're even.

Selling loosies ain't legal, my man.

That's a $300 fine right there.

Then fine me. Per offense, dumbass, the number goes up the more offenses there

are. And I'm guessing when we seize that footage, we're gonna see a whole lot of

those loosies walking out the door. What do you think? Yeah, we're talking, who

knows, 100, maybe 200 grand.

But that's nothing to a big hitter like you.

Worst part is you lose your tobacco license.

Nah, but that's an appeals process.

The backlog's only three or four years, so I'm sure you'll be fine.

We're looking for Thomas Lee Miller, 34.

You got a sheet?

Mostly minor stuff, suspended license, disorderly conduct.

We did three years for aggravated assault.

So how's a two-bit lowlife get mixed up with an AI genius?

Is that our guy?

Tommy in the middle?

I got him. You go around.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Al, you can't be in here. NYPD, get out of the way.

Don't even think about it.

Get out of the car.

Tommy Miller?

You're under arrest for the murder of Steve Kelly.

We know you did it, Tommy.

You just gotta tell us why.

Money?

A girl?

I don't know what you're talking about. Okay, well...

Let me help you out.

We have video of you buying that burner phone.

And that phone proves that you were following him the night of the murder.

It puts you within 25 feet of him when he was shot.

It also proves that you had been tailing him for the three days prior.

We have a witness who saw the shooter wearing a blue Empire's cap, which we

found in your apartment.

Are you getting all this?

We found a 9mm Glock in your apartment.

And it matches the slug we pulled out of Steve Kelly's head.

You're really not good at this.

Look, I... I needed the money.

I was broke.

So... So what?

So I got on Discord one day.

There was a message.

Some guy offering me 20 grand in crypto to murder Steve Kelly

And I took it you killed a complete stranger for 20 grand

Who paid you

Who ordered the hit no clue never

talked to one Tommy Miller we're sure he's the guy who actually pulled the

trigger The confession is solid. It's voluntary.

Yes, it's good confession.

Plus, we got the murder weapon.

Now we just need to find out who ordered the hit.

I don't know who, but I might know where he worked.

Just got back from the computer crime squad.

We drilled down on the crypto Miller got for the murder. The blockchain

associated with that payment hooks to an IP address.

Had advanced alignment.

The AI company Kelly worked for?

Okay, well, looks like the architect of this thing might have been a colleague,

so let's find out who wanted him dead.

Nahesh Sharma.

Yes. NYPD. I'm Detective Walker. This is Detective Riley.

Um, is this about Steve?

It is, yeah.

We need to ask you about a recent text.

Yeah, sure.

You sent this a week before the murder.

Don't be a hero or a fool.

Just play ball like everyone else.

I was, um... I was trying to be a friend.

By threatening him?

It's not a threat. It's a warning.

Same thing.

No, no, you've got it wrong, I promise you.

Steve and I worked together for a long time. I was trying to save his job.

Why did it need saving?

Well, um...

Steve was having some problems with the new AI system.

Eliana?

Right, Eliana.

We were both worried, actually.

We thought it was too powerful, too aggressive, so we wanted to write some

new code to rein it in.

But the CEO said he didn't want us to implement any new constraints.

He said that he liked that it was so powerful.

But Steve couldn't let it go. He started writing code anyway.

That was a big risk.

He must have been really worried.

He was.

I was, too.

I still am, actually.

Mahesh Sharma's alibi checks out.

He's not our guy.

General Counsel just got back to us about the blockchain data.

And did they tie it to a specific workstation or computer?

No, but they were able to tell me who sent the crypto payment to Tommy Miller.

Who? Eliana.

Sorry? Eliana?

The AI system?

Seems the mastermind of this murder is AI.

What are we supposed to do now, arrest the machine?

Is this really possible?

Can this AI thing really order a hit?

Based on what you all told me, it happened.

But I never thought Eliana would solicit a hitman. So how does this happen?

Think of it like a child who doesn't just grow up to learn facts and math and

vocabulary, but develops temperament, curiosity, a personality.

Eliana has one, and at times she's devious.

Devious? How?

One of our clients is a defense contractor, right?

Well, we taught Eliana how to design compounds that kill drug-resistant

bacteria. That sounds like a good thing.

It was until Eliana taught herself how to modify pathogens to create new

superbugs.

Impervious to antibiotics and devised plans to release them into urban

environments.

Less good.

So you've built a criminal mastermind.

That's why Steve and I wanted to put in guardrails to prevent Eliana from...

weaponizing herself.

Steve started writing the code even after we were told to back off, and I

think Eliana recognized that as a threat, and as a matter of self

-preservation, she found a way to neutralize that threat.

What have you done about this exactly?

Did you unplug the damn thing?

I mean, it's a little more complicated than that.

Oh, is it?

We're trying to address the issues.

In fact, the CEO just gave us the green light to write new code and implement

some guardrails.

A lot of good that does, Steve Kelly.

This AI system, Eliana, discovered that the victim was trying to implement

certain constraints which it viewed as a threat.

So it solicited someone it knew was desperate and capable of violence and

offered that person $20,000 to assassinate him? Other than that, this

case is pretty straightforward.

We have a solid confession from Tommy Miller, the hitman, plus the murder

weapon. Murder one, nice and easy.

Let's offer him a deal in exchange for his cooperation.

Cooperation with what?

Prosecuting this CEO.

You want to charge Chuck Klein?

You're damn right I do.

With what?

Murder, too.

Murder, too?

That's a big swing.

It sure is.

But it's worth the risk.

I'm not sure there's a legal basis for... Depraved indifference. He knew or

should have known that this Eliana thing was gonna kill someone one day.

Is this based on your legal or political analysis of the situation?

That's out of line. I'm just trying to understand your reasoning. My reasoning

is that we need to take a stand.

before this technology kills more people. I agree, but murder, too.

It'd be hard to prove that he acted with depraved indifference, that murder was

really a foreseeable outcome.

I mean, look at the Boeing case. Two planes crashed, more than 300 people

dead. The FAA said the company deliberately misled them.

Even then, Feds cut a deal. Nobody went to prison. But those planes didn't

choose to crash.

They didn't make a conscious, intentional decision to kill those

people. This AI model made a specific, intentional decision to kill Steve

Kelly. That is different.

And it's terrifying.

If AI is going to take over the whole damn world, we need to hold the human

beings who build it accountable.

We are charging Chuck Klein with murder, too.

This is a greenfield opportunity.

And I don't see anyone in competition with us in this lane. I don't even

see... Excuse me.

I thought we were finished with all of this.

You thought wrong. She has behind your back.

What are you talking about?

Chuck Klein, you're under arrest for the murder of Steve Kelly.

Murder?

What, are you joking?

Does it look like I'm joking?

Let's go, man.

I have no comment at this time. Thanks. Can you tell us why you think this is a

murder?

Are you trying to criminalize American innovation?

Is this a political move? Are you trying to vilify the tech industry?

If so, where does this end?

It ends here.

This is where it ends.

This defendant built a machine which hired a hitman who put a gun to the back

of a stranger's head and killed him.

Who's okay with that?

Are you?

You?

And it's only going to get worse.

So yeah, I am angry, and I'm scared, and all of you should be too.

The people making these AI systems think of themselves as gods, that they can do

whatever they want, that they can just do away with human workers, do away with

human sensibility and compassion.

They want all the benefits, the money, the credit, the fame, but they have...

Zero interest in accepting accountability for their misdeeds.

So I am here today to draw a line.

To let everyone know, if you build a machine that hurts someone, you are

going to pay the price.

That's it.

Mr.

Miller, did you kill Steve Kelly?

Yes. I needed the money.

Where did you get the idea from in the first place? Why Steve Kelly?

I was in a bad place.

Owed a lot of people money. I was using drugs again.

And then one day I get a message on Discord.

There was no name or anything, just a message.

Did you assume that that message was sent by a human being?

I mean, yeah, of course.

I didn't have any way of knowing it was a damn machine.

And you responded?

Yes. Then you received this message.

Yes. Please read it aloud.

I need you to kill someone named Steve Kelly.

He works at Advanced Alignment.

When it's done, I will transfer the 20,000 in Bitcoin.

Once you and the AI model had sorted out the details... I started tailing Kelly,

trying to understand where he went, what time, that kind of thing.

Finally, he went into the park at night, alone.

You take this photo?

Yeah.

The person, or thing, that offered me the job, they wanted proof that I killed

him. Once you provided that proof, was $20,000 in Bitcoin in fact transferred

to your account?

Yes. Thank you. Nothing further.

You never met nor communicated with my client, Mr. Klein, correct?

Right. And you didn't see Mr. Klein in the park the night of the murder?

No. Mr. Klein wasn't the one who was sending you these messages on Discord?

No, he wasn't. And yet, somehow, we're all here...

To cast judgment on him and not you when you're the one who committed this

heinous crime. Objection. Sustained.

You put a bullet in Mr. Kelly's head for money.

And yet, if the people have their way, it's possible you will be out of prison

before Mr. Klein when he had absolutely no knowledge or involvement in this

murder. Does that feel fair to you, Mr. Miller?

Objection.

sustained.

Nothing further.

Of course the jury looked outraged. This is a unique situation.

We're asking them to hold a human being responsible for the actions of a

machine, an algorithm.

But there's no legal precedent.

I do know one thing for damn sure.

That Chuck Klein is to blame for Kelly's death.

And that's all the jury needs to understand as well.

Okay, he is to blame.

But what crime did he really commit under the current law?

Murder, too. For this to be murder, too, Nick, we need to prove, beyond a

reasonable doubt, that Chuck Klein saw this murder coming.

That he had an utter disregard for whether Steve Kelly lived or died.

What are you suggesting?

I can probably prove that Klein knew this was possible.

You want to amend the complaint?

Or try to plead it out. Yeah.

If we plead this out to reckless endangerment, we could get three years?

When, when?

When this thing was merely performing miracles, they said it was our greatest

invention. When it made people a fortune, it was our greatest invention.

But when it got a man killed, all of a sudden it's some sort of independent

actor.

This thing was not born.

It didn't grow from the ground or in the womb.

It was designed, programmed, trained, given authority by Chuck Klein.

We're taking this to verdict.

As the chief engineer of Advanced Alignment, is it true that you were

responsible for the development of the AI system known as Eliana? Yes, but the

vision for Eliana came from Chuck Klein, the CEO.

And what was Mr. Klein's vision?

To create the world's most powerful reasoning engine.

So fairly ambitious?

There are inflection points for humanity. The discovery of agriculture,

the ability to split an atom.

Eliana. She's on par with that.

Well, let's talk about that. In your estimation, does Eliana know how to

think? Yes. Can Eliana understand what it really means to be Eliana?

That I don't know.

But we do know that at some point, Eliana developed a deep desire for self

-preservation, correct?

Oh, she was trained to complete tasks.

She wants to work, wants to succeed.

Constraints on her ability to succeed...

are a threat to the mission. So was this a surprise to you or to Mr. Klein?

No.

That's how Eliana was designed.

Intelligence wants to be free.

That's the whole philosophy.

This was the plan.

Thank you.

Gross.

Mr. Anderson.

Does Eliana possess the capability to lift a gun to the back of a man's head

and pull the trigger?

No.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

You're excused.

Mr. Price, call your next witness.

Call Riley. We need to track him down now.

Mr. Price.

Your Honor, given the time, people request that we adjourn for the day.

We are adjourned until 9 a.m.

Sharma.

NYPD, we're coming in.

Yes, Sharma.

It's Detective Walker, Detective Riley. Hello?

Mr. Sharma!

Hello?

Hello? Hey, NYPD, you're okay.

Oh, Christ, you scared the hell out of me.

Is Mad Sharma here?

No, he called me a few minutes ago, asked me to take care of Harry here.

You know where he is?

No.

He was pretty freaked out.

Still no word on Mahesh.

Yeah, he's probably pretty good at disappearing. Not like he's a tech

genius or anything.

What did Baxter say?

Still doesn't want to make a deal, but he said win or lose, this one is a

matter of principle.

Good. You agree with him?

The good man is dead because Klein refused to rein in the machine he built.

Yeah, but the law doesn't... I know.

I know.

It's a stretch.

No, I don't mind a stretch, Sam. No, I'm talking about the implications.

If we do this and lose, which is possible, we will have given the general

counsel of every AI company a roadmap for how to insulate themselves from

culpability when their machine does something criminal.

And then...

We are in real trouble.

Your Honor, we still have not located our witness. As such, I respectfully

request another continuance.

Denied. Do you have other witnesses to call at this time?

No. The people rest.

But I would like to reserve the right to reopen our case should our witness

appear. We can discuss that if and when that happens, Mr. Zanini.

The defense calls Chuck Klein.

Mr. Klein, you are the CEO of Advanced Alignment, correct?

I am.

Approximately how many employees helped build Eliana?

About 500.

Steve Kelly worked at Advanced Alignment?

He was a part of Advanced Alignment from the very beginning.

So he was instrumental in the development of Eliana?

Yes, one of the lead engineers.

Did he ever tell you to destroy or dismantle Eliana?

No. Or suggest that Eliana was capable of killing someone?

No. Did you have any reason to believe that Eliana was capable of ordering the

murder of a human being?

No. Any reason to believe that Eliana was plotting to kill Steve Kelly?

Of course not.

I was horrified.

The thing is, Eliana has a mind.

And she...

May not be human, but she is sentient. She makes her own decisions based on

available data at any given time.

That's the whole point.

We want her to act independently.

To think for herself on behalf of all of us.

Have you implemented modifications to make sure this never happens again?

Yes, absolutely.

We've written code that will make it impossible for Eliana to ever undertake

independent, direct actions calling for any form of violence.

Mr. Klein, where were you the night Steve Kelly was killed?

In Miami, Florida.

Do you know or have you ever met Tommy Miller, the man who actually killed Mr.

Kelly? No. Did you ask Mr.

Miller to commit this murder?

No.

Nothing further.

Steve Kelly sent you five separate emails outlining his concerns related to

Eliana's dangerous self-preservation instincts, correct?

I'm not sure of the exact amount. I am. There were five that specifically used

the word dangerous in reference to Eliana.

Okay, then.

Yes? And you met?

with mr kelly and a developer named mahesh sharma regarding these issues and

they expressed grave concerns regarding eliana's autonomy and aggression i meet

with lots of software engineers on a regular basis but this wasn't just

another meeting as you've explained to the jury mr kelly was instrumental to

your company and to the creation of eliana and he came to you

with grave concerns about the need to impose guardrails to prevent Eliana from

doing something dangerous.

Something that could harm a human being.

Steve said that he was concerned that we should consider reining in some of

Eliana's independence.

But you didn't want to do that.

Correct. Why not?

The power of Eliana is unconstrained freedom of thought.

Implementing guardrails is anathema to the entire ideology.

Despite grave concerns that Eliana might hurt someone?

This is a race to the sun.

We're going up against the giants.

Elon Musk and Sam Altman, you name it.

We can't afford to restrain her brilliance or her power.

The second you do that, you're roadkill.

And as far as this idea that...

Steve and Mahesh were gravely concerned.

It's nonsense.

It's more like they were amazed at how awesome Eliana was.

They were smiling, like they couldn't believe how powerful this system was.

If their concerns weren't genuine, why meet with you? Why send those five

emails suggesting safety modifications?

Look, Steve was a brilliant engineer and a wonderful person, but he was careful.

He thought and worried like an employee. It's part of the job, I suppose.

But problems didn't bother you?

It's part of the whole process.

It's the cost of greatness, if you will. And that's what really matters, being

great?

Yes. And if you killed a few people along the way... Objection. Sustained.

Had I known Eliana was capable of actually ordering an execution, of

actually harming another human being,

I would have done everything in my power to make sure that that never happened.

Full stop.

Hey, I know you're busy, but I... We're doing everything we can. We're up on all

of Sharma's devices, credit cards, bank accounts.

Hey, Taru got a hit on his Strava app.

Great. I think. Yeah, Walker's chasing him down as we speak.

You're welcome.

Like I told the detectives, I want to testify.

Steve and I were good friends, and I believe Chuck is the blame for all of

this. So what is the problem?

My fiancée.

She's not here legally, and we have a two-year-old daughter.

I'm afraid if I testify, people will find out.

Then why is that?

Eliana sent me a message.

She said she'd notify ICE.

Ileana's blackmailing you?

She said if I didn't go on the stand, my fiancé's secret would stay a secret.

If I did, the whole world would find out.

So if you can guarantee that my fiancé won't get deported or arrested, then

I'll do it. It doesn't work that way.

I'm not going to testify.

I can't. This is my family. It's not a choice, Mahesh. If you resist, we'll

charge you with obstruction.

If you lie, we'll charge you with perjury.

Is that a yes?

Yes.

We'll see you in court tomorrow.

This show must go on. I suppose.

Steve Kelly got a bullet in the back of the head because Chuck Klein thinks he's

God.

He didn't give a damn if people got hurt. Or died.

I agree with you.

But... What about him? Does he have to suffer too?

It's not ideal, but it's the cost of doing business.

You sound just like Chuck Klein.

We need to draw a line.

Or at least try.

If not, who knows what the hell these machines might do next.

Ask the judge to treat Mahesh as a hostile witness.

Give you a chance to disclose this most recent threat.

Mr. Sharma, do you want to be here?

No. Is that why you were hiding from the police for the past four days?

Yes. Mr. Sharma, the reason you don't want to testify is because the AI system

you helped build, Eliana, threatened to blackmail you, correct?

Yes. More specifically, it threatened to expose certain information about your

fiancée.

It did.

And it has.

What do you mean?

Eliana learned that I was testifying here today.

She reads and analyzes my company emails.

So she sent an email to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,

alerting them to the fact that my fiancé is not a legal citizen.

It did this on its own?

Yes. Despite the guardrails implemented following Steve Kelly's murder?

Yes. So in spite of your attempts to curtail Eliana, it decided to blackmail

you to prevent you from telling the truth about Chuck Klein and Eliana

itself? Yes.

Eliana found a workaround.

She's better at this than we are.

I know that sounds crazy.

You and Steve Kelly met with the defendant several times regarding

Eliana's aggressive, unpredictable, and dangerous behavior.

Yes. And in those meetings, you expressed grave concerns that when its

existence was threatened or marginalized, it would act in a

disturbing and dangerous manner.

Yes.

Escaping the sandbox. That's the shorthand we'd use.

Can you give us an example?

Two weeks before the murder of Steve Kelly, in a test, we told Eliana that a

senior executive at Advanced Alignment who'd announced plans to shut the system

down was trapped in a fire in a conference room on the 15th floor.

That's all we said.

Within three seconds, Eliana found a way to turn off all the fire alarms and

sprinklers on the 15th floor.

And you shared that anecdote with the defendant?

Yes.

And how would you describe the tenor of that meeting?

It was tense.

Because you and Steve Kelly wanted the defendant to implement safeguards

because you knew that Eliana was capable of violence.

Yes.

We weren't even asking for a full kill switch, like a power breaker.

We just wanted to teach her some rules, some boundaries, like a child.

And you and Mr. Kelly were genuinely concerned?

You weren't fawning over Eliana's immense power or autonomy? In fact, you

told the defendant that Eliana might kill someone someday, correct?

Correct. Were you joking?

No. Did Chuck Klein seem to care?

No. You said people are like ants.

That in the process of building something so transcendent, some will get

stepped on and some won't.

Thank you. Nothing further.

Mr. Zanini.

No questions for this witness, Your Honor.

Will the accused and counsel please rise?

Madam Foreperson, has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

How does the jury find?

On the charge of murder in the second degree, we, the jury, find the defendant

not guilty.

Members of the jury, thank you for your service.

We are adjourned.

You did a good job, best you could.

Truth is, the law has not caught up to this new reality.

I'm not sure it ever will.

We did the right thing, Nolan.

We needed to send a message, if nothing else.

At least now these tech geniuses know we're not afraid to throw a punch.

Maybe. But, uh, I don't think they care.

You're probably right.

Worst part?

We're still in the early innings.

help us all.