The Dark Side of AI: Black Market Chatbots Are Thriving
The Dark Side of AI: Black Market Chatbots Are Thriving
Think AI is only making the world smarter? It’s also making cybercrime cheaper, faster, and far more dangerous.
In the shadows of the mainstream AI boom, a black market for illicit large language models (LLMs) is quietly flourishing. Research reveals that malicious LLMs, often sold in underground forums, generate up to $28,000 in two months by providing uncensored, powerful tools for cybercriminals.
These AIs are used for writing phishing emails, developing malware, and even bypassing antivirus software, with models like DarkGPT and WolfGPT leading the pack. These “malas” are easy to access and highly profitable, but they also expose significant gaps in AI regulation.
While experts argue that we can’t stop all malicious uses of AI, they push for stronger safeguards and user verification systems to combat the spread of these tools. The question remains: will AI innovation lead to better defenses, or will cybercriminals always be one step ahead?
Read the full article on Fast Company.
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Dr. Mark van Rijmenam
Dr. Mark van Rijmenam is The Digital Speaker, a world-leading futurist and global AI keynote speaker who helps leaders decide what AI, and the technologies that follow it, mean for their business. He speaks to leadership teams at their retreats and to conference audiences worldwide, and his WAVE framework gives them a way of deciding that they keep using long after he has left the room. His Intelligence Age Scorecard measures how ready an organization is across the four WAVE pillars.
He holds a PhD from the University of Technology Sydney, is a Certified Speaking Professional and Global Speaking Fellow, and ranks among the world’s top futurists on the Global Gurus list (#1 in 2025, #3 in 2026). Salesforce named him one of its 16 leading AI voices. He has written six books, most recently Now What? How to Ride the Tsunami of Change, writes the Synthetic Minds newsletter on Substack, and founded Futurwise. Talk to his digital twin on WhatsApp: +1 (830) 463-6967.
