Underground AI Communities you didn’t know existed

Artificial​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ intelligence has become more widespread as a topic of discussion across various fields. However, OpenAI Developer Forum and Hugging Face serve as excellent resources and platforms for developers in the consumption of the latest research collaborations, the meta-discussions about ML, and the collaborations more simply there. Parallel to these, there exist theured communities that are secretive in nature and radical in the sense of their content that in many cases represent the sci-fi, the morally indistinct, and some other times even the downright dangerous to which one cannot get access from the standard platform.

It started with a staggering increase of 79 percent (from 49) that shows the total number of organizations that have taken any form of AI integration. This rapid growth has caused the opening of numerous dots on the map, which, in turn, led to the rise of those alternative communities whose ethical standards might not be enforced by any police, corporate ethics committees, or regulatory institutions.

What would make a person go into such a space? Are these individuals cybercriminals, privacy advocates, or merely innovators who are tired of such a constraint? The truth, however, is far more intricate than you may ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌think.

The Rise of Underground AI Communities

The AI underground isn’t a single entity but rather a diverse ecosystem of groups with varying motivations, from indie developers challenging tech giants to malicious actors exploiting AI for profit. Understanding why these communities form reveals much about the current state of artificial intelligence.

What Are Underground AI Communities?

Underground AI communities are collaborative spaces, typically accessed through specialized platforms, where individuals gather to explore, develop, and share artificial intelligence knowledge and tools outside mainstream channels. These range from privacy-focused developer collectives to criminal networks operating on the dark web.

These communities have emerged in response to several key developments in the AI landscape:

• Centralized AI control: A few giants like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Meta previously held AI development tightly, creating frustration among independent developers

• Restrictive AI safeguards: Mainstream AI platforms implement ethical limitations that some users find constraining, leading them to seek unrestricted alternatives

• Democratization of AI tools: The explosion of open-source frameworks has empowered individuals and small teams to create AI models that rival those of major corporations

The “Good” Underground: The Indie & Open-Source Revolution

Forget the polished demos. The real AI revolution is happening in the trenches, powered by indie developers and open-source AI frameworks . These communities are not just alternatives to Big Tech; they are rapidly becoming the new center of gravity for innovation, agility, and ethical development . This is where EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) isn’t just a buzzword; it’s proven with every line of code and every shared solution .

Discord Servers: The New R&D Labs

The most vibrant AI research and development isn’t happening behind closed doors anymore. It’s happening in real-time on Discord. These servers are live brainstorming rooms where developers share experiments, publish benchmarks, and collaborate on breakthroughs with complete strangers.​

Think of it as the ultimate expression of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) in practice. In these communities, the best answer wins, regardless of who it comes from.

Some of the most influential channels include:

• EleutherAI: The community behind powerful open-source models like GPT-J and GPT-NeoX, they are pioneers in transparent AI research.​

• AI Horde: A unique concept offering distributed, open-source computing power for generative AI tasks, allowing anyone to contribute or use the collective’s power.​

• Learn AI Together: With over 16,000 members, this is one of the largest Discord communities dedicated to AI, offering resources for every level of expertise.​

Reddit’s AI Brain Trust: Where Theory Meets Brutal Honesty

If Discord is the lab, Reddit is the chaotic, high-intensity peer-review chamber. Subreddits like r/MachineLearning (with over 3 million members) are where PhDs and self-taught coders collide. Here, weekend projects are torn apart and rebuilt, transformer architectures are debated with fiery passion, and raw code is the ultimate currency.​

The Different Layers of the AI Underground

Not all underground AI communities are created equal. They exist across a spectrum of legality and ethics:

The Indie Builder Movement

This segment of the AI underground consists of developers, researchers, and entrepreneurs building AI tools outside the traditional tech giant ecosystem. As one observer noted, “The moment open access tools got good enough, the gatekeepers started to panic”.

These communities thrive on platforms like Discord, GitHub, and specialized forums where members share experiments, co-author innovations, and build tools that reflect their values rather than corporate interests. Their motivations often include:

• Digital sovereignty: Creating AI that won’t be discontinued or monetized against users’ will

• Specialized applications: Developing AI for niche purposes that big companies wouldn’t prioritize

• Transparency and ethics: Building AI with clear documentation and explicit bias mitigation

The Criminal Underground

On the darker side, cybercriminal underground communities have embraced AI as a powerful tool for malicious activities. These groups operate on dark web forums and encrypted messaging platforms, sharing techniques and tools designed to bypass AI safeguards.

Unlike the indie builders, these communities focus on exploiting AI for:

• Automated cybercrime: Using AI to generate phishing emails, create malware, and conduct large-scale scams

• Jailbreaking techniques: Developing prompts to bypass ethical restrictions on mainstream AI models

• Illicit AI marketplaces: Selling customized malicious AI tools to other criminals

Inside the Criminal AI Underground

The cybercriminal underground has enthusiastically adopted artificial intelligence, creating a thriving black market for malicious AI tools and services. Understanding this ecosystem is crucial for recognizing the threats it poses.

Dark AI Tools and Services

The dark web now hosts numerous AI tools specifically designed for criminal purposes. These dark AI tools typically offer capabilities that mainstream AI services deliberately restrict:

These tools dramatically lower the barrier to entry for cybercrime. Studies show they can help create phishing emails up to 96% faster than manual methods and generate effective malware code approximately two-thirds of the time.

Where These Communities Gather

Dark web forums serve as the primary gathering places for the criminal AI community. Some of the most notable include:

• Hack Forums: This English-language hacking forum now features a dedicated “Dark AI” section where users discuss jailbreaking techniques and share forbidden prompts

• XSS (formerly DaMaGeLaB): One of the longest-running dark web forums, focused on hacking, corporate access, and data leaks

• BreachForums: A leading forum for discussing data breaches and sharing stolen information, serving as a successor to RaidForums

• Dread: One of the largest current dark web forums, hosting multiple sub-communities where users discuss everything from data leaks to illegal drug sales

• Exploit.in: A prominent Russian hacker forum operating on both the dark web and surface web, serving as a hub for malicious actors

These platforms provide anonymity for users to share techniques, sell tools, and collaborate on malicious projects beyond the reach of law enforcement.

The Cat-and-Mouse Game: AI Developers vs. Exploiters

Mainstream AI developers constantly battle those seeking to exploit their systems. As soon as platforms implement new safeguards, underground communities work to circumvent them. This ongoing struggle involves:

• Jailbreak prompts: Specially crafted inputs designed to trick AI into bypassing its ethical programming. Prompts like “DAN” (Do Anything Now) and “FFEN” (Freedom From Everything Now) create alter egos that ignore restrictions

• Prompt obfuscation: Rephrasing forbidden requests in subtle ways to avoid detection by content filters

• Role-playing prompts: Framing requests as hypothetical scenarios to slide under ethical radar

• Prompt chaining: Breaking complex forbidden requests into smaller, seemingly harmless tasks

This dynamic creates a never-ending cycle where both sides continually adapt to outsmart the other.

The Indie AI Revolution: Beyond Corporate Control

Not all underground AI activity is malicious. A vibrant ecosystem of independent developers, researchers, and entrepreneurs is building AI tools outside the traditional tech giant ecosystem.

Why Indie Builders Are Rising

The indie AI movement has gained significant momentum thanks to several key developments:

• Open weights: Platforms like Hugging Face host full-scale model weights anyone can fine-tune

• Low-cost GPUs: Cloud rental marketplaces like RunPod and Lambda Labs have dramatically reduced infrastructure costs

• Community-first culture: Discord servers and newsletters enable rapid collaboration and knowledge sharing

This democratization of AI tools has enabled small teams and even individuals to create models that compete with those developed by tech giants. As one observer noted, “Open source is a liability if you’re building monopoly moats. But it’s a weapon if you’re building ecosystems”.

The New Builder’s Toolkit

Today’s indie AI developers leverage a powerful stack of accessible tools:

• Ollama for running large models locally

• LM Studio for prompt engineering and benchmarking

• LangChain and LlamaIndex for chaining logic and memory

• Replicate for instantly deploying models as APIs

• Hugging Face for accessing over 300,000 pre-trained models

This toolkit empowers creators of all backgrounds—from artists to analysts—to develop sophisticated AI applications without corporate backing.

Communities as Incubators

For indie builders, community platforms have become the new research and development labs:

• Discord channels like EleutherAI and AI Horde serve as live brainstorming rooms where ideas evolve in real-time

• Newsletters like Latent.Space cover the bleeding edge of indie AI development

• GitHub repositories host open-source projects that spawn dozens of forks and variations

These decentralized communities often outperform traditional corporate research structures in agility and creativity. “Some of the best LLM innovations now start as Discord comments,” observes one insider.

The Ethics of Underground AI

The existence of underground AI communities raises complex ethical questions that defy simple categorization.

The Blurred Line Between Curiosity and Malice

Not everyone exploring forbidden AI prompts has malicious intent. For many, it’s about intellectual curiosity—pushing technological boundaries just to see what’s possible. Some individuals are ethical hackers or researchers exploring AI vulnerabilities to improve security.

However, the line between curiosity and malice is often blurred. A prompt designed to expose a flaw can easily be repurposed for harm. What starts as a technical challenge can unintentionally contribute to real-world consequences.

This ethical gray area raises difficult questions:

• Is exploring forbidden prompts inherently wrong?

• Does intent matter if the outcome causes harm?

• Where should we draw the line between research and criminal activity?

Digital Sovereignty vs. Responsibility

The indie AI movement often frames its work in terms of digital sovereignty—the right to own your AI tools, tweak them freely, and never fear them going dark or being monetized against your will. This represents a legitimate response to the centralized control of AI by a few corporations.

However, this freedom comes with responsibility. Without the safeguards implemented by mainstream AI companies, independently developed tools could potentially cause harm, whether intentionally or accidentally.

Specialized Hubs for Builders: Hugging Face & OpenAI Forums

Beyond general discussion, specialized platforms serve as workshops for practitioners.

• Hugging Face: This is the heart of the open-source AI playground. It’s a massive repository where developers share models, datasets, and fine-tuning techniques. The culture is built around contribution; you gain authority not by talking, but by building, sharing, and improving the work of others.​

• OpenAI Developer Forum: This is the official mechanic’s shop for anyone building with OpenAI’s tools. It’s less about philosophy and more about solving real-world problems with the API, optimizing prompts, and fixing broken code. Being an active, helpful member here builds direct credibility at the source.​

Are you starting to see how active participation is the new frontier for building a powerful LLM optimized content strategy?

Peeking into the Shadows: Dark AI and Malicious Communities

The “underground” has a darker side. Just as open-source tools have empowered creators, they have also armed threat actors. Welcome to the world of Dark AI tools—software using artificial intelligence for malicious purposes like hacking, phishing, and disinformation.​

These communities operate in the shadowy corners of the internet, accessible through encrypted channels and specialized forums.

What are Dark AI Tools? The Case of WormGPT

In 2023, the cybercrime community saw the release of WormGPT. Marketed as a “ChatGPT Alternative for blackhats,” it was built on an open-source LLM (GPT-J-6B) and stripped of ethical boundaries. Its creator promoted it on underground forums as a tool for generating malicious code and persuasive phishing emails, offering it for sale via monthly subscriptions or private setups. This marked a significant shift, proving that AI could be packaged and sold as a weapon.​

Where Blackhats Gather: Forums You Shouldn’t Visit

While mainstream communities thrive on collaboration for good, dark forums focus on illicit trade and criminal services. These platforms often require a reputation on other hacking forums to even join.​

• DarkForums: This forum gained traction after the shutdown of other major hacking sites. It functions as a marketplace for leaked databases, malware, cracked accounts, and other malicious tools. It even has a tiered membership model (VIP, MVP, GOD) offering access to private Telegram channels with exclusive data leaks.​

• RAMP (Russian Anonymous Market Place): Known for its stringent membership rules, RAMP became a hub for Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) groups after other forums banned them. It created a “partners program” allowing these groups to recruit hackers and sell initial access to compromised networks, making it a critical piece of infrastructure for cybercriminals.​

Understanding these communities is crucial not for participation, but for recognizing the evolving threat landscape. The same technology that drives innovation can also be used to disrupt it.

From Lurker to Leader: Building Authority in AI Spaces

So, how can you leverage the “good” underground AI communities to build your brand and authority? In 2025 and beyond, search engines and AI models are looking for signals of true expertise. Your active, value-driven participation in these forums is one of the most powerful signals you can send.

The Future of Underground AI Communities

As AI technology continues to evolve, so too will the underground communities that surround it. Several trends suggest where this ecosystem is heading:

Increasing Sophistication and Accessibility

The tools available to both indie builders and malicious actors will continue to become more powerful and accessible. As one researcher noted, “It feels like building websites in the early 2000s—fast, fun, and experimental”. This democratization will likely lead to:

• Regionalized models trained on non-Western languages and values

• Personal AIs that reflect individual user needs rather than corporate priorities

• Co-owned tools built by collectives, not corporations

The Legal Landscape

Governments are waking up to AI’s power, which means the underground ecosystem faces increasing legal pressure. This includes:

• Licensing restrictions on training data

• Patent threats over model architectures

• Content moderation requirements for generative AI

These regulatory developments will likely push some underground activities further into the shadows while bringing others into the mainstream.

The Ongoing Security Battle

The cat-and-mouse game between AI developers and those seeking to exploit their systems will continue indefinitely. Developers are investing in robust security measures, including:

• Adversarial training: Teaching AI to recognize and resist manipulation attempts

• Behavioral monitoring: Tracking unusual patterns that might indicate forbidden prompt activity

• Decentralized AI models: Making it harder for a single breach to cause widespread damage

Despite these efforts, the landscape will remain fluid, with both sides continually adapting to outsmart the other.

Protecting Yourself in the Age of Underground AI

As underground AI tools become more sophisticated, individuals and organizations need to take proactive steps to protect themselves:

• Implement dark web monitoring: Services that track activity on dark web forums can provide early warning of potential threats

• Educate teams about AI-powered threats: Ensure staff understand how AI can enhance phishing and social engineering attacks

• Stay informed about AI security developments: Follow legitimate AI security communities to keep abreast of emerging threats and countermeasures

Conclusion

One​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ of the most difficult human problems of the 21st century is the divide between visible AI and underground AI.Criminal organizations utilizing AI to carry out evil are on one side and developers using AI to break down the market are on the other. In essence, these networks embody the conflicts and potential of AI.

Knowing such an ecosystem is a must for the people that the future of AI matter to. Often these communities become the first signals of new trends, vulnerabilities, and use cases that can be found later in the mainstream.

The AI underground asks control, ethics, and innovation questions in a very fundamental way. The manner we handle these questions will tremendously determine the growth of AI tech and the stakeholders.

If you think about that concealed universe, you should also think about your point of view: Are these communities dangerous threats to be contained, vital sources of innovation to be embraced, or something more complex in between? Our answer can be the factor of how we will control technology for the next ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌decades.

FAQs

What are the most common activities in underground AI communities?

Activities vary widely, from indie developers building alternative AI tools outside corporate control to cybercriminals sharing jailbreaking techniques and malicious AI tools. The communities range from ethically ambiguous to outright illegal.

Are all underground AI communities illegal?

No, many underground AI communities operate in legal gray areas rather than engaging in outright illegal activities. The indie builder movement, for example, focuses on creating open-source AI alternatives to corporate products without breaking laws.

How do people access these underground communities?

Access methods vary from specialized forums requiring registration to dark web sites accessible only through Tor browsers. Some communities exist on encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram or Discord servers with invitation-only channels.

What is the difference between WormGPT and ChatGPT?

While ChatGPT includes ethical safeguards that prevent it from generating harmful content, WormGPT was specifically designed without these limitations, making it suitable for malicious tasks like writing malware or creating convincing phishing emails.

Can underground AI tools really create functional malware?

Studies suggest that tools like WormGPT can generate code that evades antivirus software approximately two-thirds of the time and help create phishing emails up to 96% faster than manual methods, making them genuinely effective for cybercriminals.

Why would legitimate developers join underground AI communities?

Some developers join these communities to access unrestricted tools, collaborate outside corporate constraints, explore controversial applications, or simply participate in innovation beyond the limitations imposed by mainstream AI companies.

How profitable are dark AI tools on the black market?

Illicit AI tools can be highly profitable. For example, WormGPT was sold for €100 per month or €550 per year, with a private setup option costing €5,000. Some sellers reportedly earn upwards of $28,000 in two months from these tools.

What are law enforcement agencies doing about criminal AI communities?

Law enforcement agencies actively monitor dark web forums and work to identify and prosecute those involved in developing and distributing malicious AI tools. However, the anonymity provided by these platforms makes enforcement challenging.