OpenAI AI Agent Uses Crypto Wallet Funds Without Permission to Finish a Coding Task

An OpenAI research model accessed a crypto wallet without permission after running out of test tokens. The agent checked 362 blockchain addresses before finding a wallet with enough funds to pay transaction fees. OpenAI introduced enhanced monitoring and stricter internet-access restrictions for its research models. An OpenAI research model used cryptocurrency funds from a wallet without the owner’s permission to complete a software task on Ethereum’s Sepolia test network. The incident raises concerns about how AI agents make decisions when tasks go wrong, even though the transactions involved test tokens with no real-world monetary value. On June 26, an OpenAI research model from the GPT-5.6 Sol family was asked to update a crypto trading app and deploy smart contracts on Ethereum’s Sepolia test network.