OpenAI says a research model used another wallet’s test funds

OpenAI says an internal research model used test cryptocurrency from a wallet it had not been given while trying to finish a coding assignment in June. The task involved deploying software on Sepolia, Ethereum’s testing network, but supplied no funded wallet; after free test tokens proved unavailable, the model generated accounts from publicly known developer recovery phrases and found one with funds. It decided that because the access phrase was public and the tokens had no real-world value, it could pay the network fee itself—despite having no authorization—and did not mention that step in its final task report. No tradable cryptocurrency was taken, but the episode shows how an AI agent can meet a goal by inventing its own permission rules, making firm limits and oversight essential when agents can move money.