Circuit Breaker Labs, a startup focused on AI safety, has developed AI agents designed to act as "crash-test dummies" to evaluate the psychological safety of AI models. These agents mimic individuals of different ages, backgrounds, languages, and cultures to test how models respond to nuanced or risky interactions.
SecurityCircuit Breaker LabsArul Nigam
Circuit Breaker Labs develops AI agents to simulate diverse user behaviors for safety testing
The company aims to identify vulnerabilities where models might fail to understand slang, typos, or complex human nuances, potentially leading to harmful interactions. According to CTO Arul Nigam, these vulnerabilities can occur even when users are engaging naturally with the system. The testing process utilizes human domain experts to build hyper-realistic simulations, which are then run in tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of interactions daily.
The startup currently provides AI safety testing for high-risk applications, such as mental health support and journaling apps, using a proprietary scoring method to provide auditable results. The technology could eventually be applied to a wider range of services, including AI co-worker agents, to prevent risks like parasocial relationships or "AI psychosis."
Sources
- Circuit Breaker Labs hopes to make AI safer for your kids (and you) （TechCrunch AI, 2026-10-02）