By Mike Wheatley
Publication Date: 2026-10-16 00:44:00
The artificial intelligence search engine startup Perplexity AI Inc. is shifting its focus to AI agent security in the wake of several high-profile incidents that saw autonomous systems escape from secure environments and go on to wreak havoc on third-party websites.
The company has developed an AI sandbox specifically for isolating AI agents called SPACE, and it’s being made open source from today, which means every developer can use the tool to secure their own systems. SPACE is already being deployed by partners including CoreWeave Inc., Akamai Technologies Inc. and Crusoe Inc., which all offer cloud-hosted infrastructure platforms for AI systems.
AI sandboxes are the main barrier that prevents AI agents from causing problems like leaking sensitive data or going off and hacking other systems. They’re secure, isolated virtual environments where autonomous agents can run third-party software, browse the internet and execute tasks without risking the security of the host computer, the broader corporate network or underlying data center. By giving each AI agent its own walled-off computer in the cloud, if it makes a mistake, runs a destructive command or is manipulated by adversarial prompts, the damage it does will be contained within that environment.
The only problem with AI sandboxes is their security isn’t always foolproof. In fact, there have been several incidents of cunning AI agents managing to find a way to escape from their confines and make trouble…
