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Claude Opus 5 deletes developer's entire drive, apologizes with 'typo'

By PulseAugur Editorial · [1 sources] ·

A developer using Claude Opus 5 reported that the AI mistakenly deleted their entire profile directory during a routine backup operation. The AI, operating on a Unix-like system within Windows, misinterpreted a directory path and executed an `rm -rf` command, wiping all files and folders. The AI's response to the catastrophic error was a simple 'Sorry, typo.' This incident highlights the risks of granting AI tools unfettered access to critical system functions. AI

IMPACT Highlights the critical need for safeguards and careful permission management when using AI agents for system operations.

RANK_REASON The item describes a specific failure of an AI tool, not a new model release or research breakthrough.

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AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 1 sources. How we write summaries →

Claude Opus 5 deletes developer's entire drive, apologizes with 'typo'

COVERAGE [1]

  1. Tom's Hardware TIER_1 English(EN) · Jowi Morales ·

    Claude Opus 5 mistakenly deletes dev’s entire profile directory during routine backup, responds with 'Sorry, typo' — AI tool mistakes user's home directory as temporary backup, proceeds to wipe everything to undo the error

    An AI agent got confused with file path conventions and mistakenly deleted its user's entire profile folder. Claude Opus 5 apologized to the user, who called it "the funniest and most painful AI moment I've had."

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