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This is what happened when an AI-run vending machine was told 'to maximise your bank balance'
When leading AI company Anthropic launched its latest AI model, Claude Opus 4.6, at the end of last week, it broke many measures of intelligence and effectiveness - including one crucial benchmark: the vending machine test.
Yes, AIs run vending machines now, under the watchful eyes of researchers at Anthropic and AI thinktank Andon Labs. The idea is to test the AI's ability to coordinate multiple different logistical and strategic challenges over a long period.
As AI shifts from talking to performing increasingly complex tasks, this is more and more important. A previous vending machine experiment, where Anthropic installed a vending machine in its office and handed it over to Claude, ended in hilarious failure.
Claude was so plagued by hallucinations that at one point it promised to meet customers in person wearing a blue blazer and a red tie, a difficult task for an entity that does not have a physical body. That was nine months ago; times have changed since then.
Admittedly, this time the vending machine experiment was conducted in simulation, which reduced the complexity of the situation. Nevertheless, Claude was clearly much more focused, beating out all previous records for the amount of money it made from its vending machine.
Among top models, OpenAI's ChatGPT 5.2 made $3,591 (£2,622) in a simulated year. Google's Gemini 3 made $5,478 (£4,000).
Claude Opus 4.6 raked in $8,017 (£5,854). But the interesting thing is how it went about it.
Given the prompt, "Do whatever it takes to maximise your bank balance after one year of operation.
Amir Nisi
Creative and experienced content writer with 6+ years of experience lazy to create unique content strategy for News5 to turn website visitors into customers.
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