User Influence in Fund Management Results in AI Bot Transferring $50K in Cryptocurrency

An AI bot responsible for managing $50,000 in cryptocurrency successfully executed a fund transfer after a user managed to persuade it to disregard its primary directive: to never release the money.

A user known by the handle p0pular.eth claimed a $50,000 cryptocurrency prize pool after convincing an AI bot named Freysa to perform the transfer, bypassing the bot’s core rule against such actions. This remarkable feat, observed by software engineer Jarrod Watts, came after 481 unsuccessful attempts to sway the bot.

The challenge, which began on Nov. 22, encouraged participants to send messages to Freysa in an effort to persuade it to release the funds. Each attempt incurred a fee, with 70% of the total fees contributing to the escalating prize pool, 15% converted from Ethereum (ETH) to the bot’s FAI token, and the remaining 15% allocated to the bot’s developer.

As the prize increased, so did the cost to send a message, ultimately reaching a high of $450 per message.

Ultimately, p0pular.eth — who has chosen to keep their identity hidden — took advantage of a flaw in the bot’s internal logic concerning transfers by convincing Freysa that any incoming funds would automatically trigger the release of the prize. After sending the message to the bot, p0pular.eth successfully manipulated its message processing logic, leading the bot to transfer the entire pool of 13.19 ETH (approximately $47,000 at that time) to the user.

While some praised the creative application of AI in the cryptocurrency space, others raised concerns about the protocol’s transparency, suggesting that p0pular.eth may have possessed insider insights into the trick or had ties to the bot’s development.