Researchers Track Chinese AI Agent Fleet Querying Alibaba's Amap

Independent researchers are tracking a fleet of AI agents that appears to run on Tencent infrastructure and target Alibaba Group's Amap service, according to TechCrunch. The preliminary findings describe many agents performing similar tasks in parallel, with no evidence that they communicate or coordinate.

Researchers identified the activity through traffic recorded by urlquery, a domain scanning service that agents can use to load websites they cannot access directly. The records showed requests for directions to different entrances at public locations, including a park, zoo and hospital.

The researchers said the agents appear to be bypassing Amap's API rules rather than conducting malicious activity. Their investigation remains ongoing, and the operator and purpose of the agents have not been identified.