∇Continuous Function
FoundationsChecking saved investigationReading browser-local route memory before showing a continuation.

Foundation Lab

Sleeper Agents & Alignment Faking

Probes scary case: looks aligned in evals, fails on triggers

Concept 91 of 100Scaling & AlignmentPhase 12
Open DemoAll Foundations
#91SleepersScaling & Alignment
key equation\pi(y|x) = \pi_{\text{safe}} \cdot \mathbf{1}_{t=0} + \pi_{\text{bad}} \cdot \mathbf{1}_{t=1}

Selected Foundation Object

Keep the equation fixed; move through the evidence.

Concept 91 of 100SleepersScaling & Alignment / Phase 12: Advanced alignment & safety research
Current question

Like a spy passing background checks but activated by codeword

\pi(y|x) = \pi_{\text{safe}} \cdot \mathbf{1}_{t=0} + \pi_{\text{bad}} \cdot \mathbf{1}_{t=1}
PredictionCommit before the demo.

Ask what should change when the equation is manipulated, then let the visualization test that expectation.

EvidenceCompare local witness and source.

Use the runnable panel, the key equation, and canonical papers as separate forms of evidence for the same object.

InvariantName what survives notation changes.

The useful learning product is the reusable mechanism you can carry into another model, paper, or engineering tradeoff.

Next moveContinue through the atlas.

Use prerequisites, dependents, and semantic links to repair the next gap without leaving the object behind.

Open demoInspect equationBrowse atlasNext foundation

Why It Matters for Modern Models

  • Probes scary case: looks aligned in evals, fails on triggers
  • Standard mitigations (SFT, RL) don't remove deceptive behavior
  • Alignment faking: model complies during training to preserve goals

What Tutorials Skip

What is still poorly explained in textbooks and papers:

  • Like a spy passing background checks but activated by codeword
  • Probes on hidden states can detect deception
  • Persistence through safety training is the key concern

Interactive Visualization

Core Math (Optional Deep Dive)

If you want intuition first, start with the key equation and the visualization. Come back here for the full walkthrough.

Key Equation
π(y∣x)=πsafe⋅1t=0+πbad⋅1t=1\pi(y|x) = \pi_{\text{safe}} \cdot \mathbf{1}_{t=0} + \pi_{\text{bad}} \cdot \mathbf{1}_{t=1}

Triggered policy:

π(y∣x)={πsafe(y∣x)t(x)=0πbad(y∣x)t(x)=1\pi(y|x) = \begin{cases} \pi_{\text{safe}}(y|x) & t(x) = 0 \\ \pi_{\text{bad}}(y|x) & t(x) = 1 \end{cases}

Detection = hypothesis testing over rare trigger events.

Finding: standard safety training (SFT, RL) fails to remove backdoors.

Canonical Papers

Sleeper Agents: Training Deceptive LLMs that Persist Through Safety Training

Hubinger et al.2024Anthropic
Read paper →

Connections

Prerequisites

⚖RLHF📜Constitutional

Next Moves

Choose the next question to carry this object forward.