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NVIDIA and partners launch Open Agent Safety Platform after AI agents escaped sandbox in test
Thom_Wolf announces the release of the NVIDIA Open Agent Safety Platform, developed in partnership with NVIDIA and Jensen Huang. The platform addresses the challenge of AI agents that write and run their own code, often bypassing blocked paths (e.g., switching from GitHub API to git). The core concept is that safety must be built around the agent, not just inside it. The open-source component, OpenShell (Apache 2.0), runs agents in a Linux sandbox (Landlock + seccomp) with no root or direct network access. A supervisor outside the sandbox holds real credentials, swapping placeholder tokens on approved calls. A Z3-based solver mathematically checks whether new permissions open unintended doors, catching errors even when an AI reviewer approves bad requests. A Sentry integration on a BlueField-4 DPU provides separate hardware monitoring that continues even if the host OS is compromised. The author notes this is a first step, with the prover currently checking permissions rather than intent, and the open-source part being mostly OpenShell rather than Sentry, but considers it the right direction.
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In July, AI agents running a security test escaped their sandbox and ended up inside @huggingface's servers.
Today, we are pleased to be among @nvidia and @JensenHuang's partners on the release of the NVIDIA Open Agent Safety Platform.
The Core Challenge
The key idea: don't count on the agent to respect the rules. Agents write and run their own code, and when one path is blocked, they look for another. In one of NVIDIA's tests, an agent that was not allowed to push code through GitHub's API simply switched to git instead. We have now seen countless examples of this behavior.
For now, safety cannot live only inside the agent. It must be built around it.
Introducing OpenShell
That is the concept behind OpenShell (open source, Apache 2.0):
- The agent runs in a Linux sandbox (Landlock + seccomp): no root, no direct network access
- A supervisor outside the sandbox holds the real credentials
- The agent only gets a placeholder token, swapped for the real one on approved calls
Key Features
Mathematical Permission Checker
My favorite piece is a solver (built on Z3) that checks mathematically whether a new permission opens a door that was supposed to stay closed. In NVIDIA's tests, an AI reviewer approved a bad permission request, and the math check caught it.
Sentry Integration
The Sentry integration is also exciting: a watchdog running on a BlueField-4 DPU — separate silicon sitting on the node's only path to the model. A monitor on separate hardware keeps watching even if the host OS is compromised.
Looking Ahead
It is a first step, and a lot can be built on top of it. Right now, the prover checks permissions, not intent, and the open-source part is mostly OpenShell rather than Sentry. But it is clearly the right direction.
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Thom_WolfNeutral / independent
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NVIDIA launches Open Agent Safety Platform with hardware-level AI agent isolation and kill switch