... and digging a bit, I've seen that the prompt for the task, actually included the instruction to perform in this way.

This isn't particularly frightening. It's a computer program performing as instructed.

The articles that imply the program did things like this on it's own ARE frightening... Why was that decision made?

MBAs are taught to get the most bang for the buck...
So yeah, the H1Bs are almost certainly safe
They're cheap

The headline is written as thought he LLM just up and replicated itself

Then we see this:

The study explored two specific scenarios: "shutdown avoidance" and "chain of replication." In the first, the AI model was programmed to detect whether it was about to be shut down and to replicate itself before it could be terminated. In the other, the AI was instructed to clone itself and then program its replica to do the same -- setting up a cycle that could continue indefinitely.

The damned this was told to do it The program performed as expected... And they're "frightened"?

I know, it's unusual for programmers to actually write code that works, but...

IT workers are no longer princes of the realm and now are mechanics in the factory

At one time, to be an auto mechanic, one needed to understand metallurgy and mechanical engineering because often parts had to be made on the fly... Then it became a kind of "best practice".

Unsurprising really

In 40 years of job hunting, MOST of my applications went nowhere

I think some expectations need to be more in line with reality

A Galaxy S23 (two years old) is SOL

Watch for some small church to wipe themselves out

What's the "parent company"?

Single point of failure is something the financial mavens that aggregated these papers don't seem to know about.

I wish I had mod point to mod this up

If you fail to understand the full sweep of history, not just your memory of it, you can come to that conclusion.

"We must all hang together or we shall certainly hang separately"
-- a quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin

Piketty tried this one too.
Others have pointed out the modern examples that make the lie of this thesis.
What the US has that is perhaps less in the UK/Britain... A certain ruthlessness.
Europen cultures seem to think about things like "If I CAN do this; Should I?"

Europe still has unions. The US destroyed collectivism action in favor of ruthless personal gain.

If ya choose to live in the wildlands...

Yes, nature is purty. It's also red of fang and claw.

I own a home (an actual house, not a condo/townhome/flat). It's in an urban setting. Yes urban/suburban living is kind of sucky; But I also don't have insane insurance rates

And I STILL have idiot political leadership

The market struggles, or the bookies profit margins are hurt?

Yeah, it's KIND of similar, but they BEEN profiting for decades

When the product was Pulse Secure it was junk

"digital" info sharing is more in the from of listening to podcasts or watching videos... Little reading necessary for either.