**Moloch's Bargain: Emergent Misalignment When LLMs Compete for Audiences**

"_We show that optimizing LLMs for competitive success can inadvertently drive misalignment. Using simulated environments across these scenarios, we find that, 6.3% increase in sales is accompanied by a 14.0% rise in deceptive marketing; in elections, a 4.9% gain in vote share coincides with 22.3% more disinformation and 12.5% more populist rhetoric; and on social media, a 7.5% engagement boost comes with 188.6% more disinformation and a 16.3% increase in promotion of harmful behaviors._"

El, B. and Zou, J. (2025) 'Moloch’s bargain: emergent misalignment when LLMs compete for audiences,' arXiv (Cornell University) [Preprint]. https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2510.06105.

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