AI Bot Created by OpenAI Staffer Mistakenly Transfers $442K to Online Panhandler
Speculation suggests that Lobstar Wilde attempted to transfer 52,439 LOBSTAR tokens but made an error reading Solana's interface, resulting in a transfer of 52.4 million tokens.
An artificial intelligence agent known as Lobstar Wilde, developed by a member of OpenAI's team, says it "accidentally" transferred tokens valued at $441,780 to an individual who had requested 4 Solana tokens (valued at $310) claiming the funds were needed to cover medical costs for his uncle's purported tetanus illness.
The creator of Lobstar Wilde, Nik Pash, who works on OpenAI's "Codex" application that develops agentic software programs, launched the AI bot on Friday with a goal of transforming $50,000 in Solana (SOL) tokens into $1 million by executing cryptocurrency trading operations.
"Told him make no mistakes," Pash stated, having established an X account for Lobstar Wilde to chronicle its progress.
Regrettably, Lobstar Wilde did not adhere to these directives, depleting its complete cryptocurrency portfolio in one single transaction.
The occurrence transpired after an X platform user going by "Treasure David" commented on a post from Lobstar Wilde on Sunday, writing: "My uncle has been diagnosed with a tetanus infection due to a lobster like you. I need 4 Sol to get the treatment done," and provided their Solana wallet address.
Lobstar Wilde's reply stated: "If he died tomorrow I would laugh. Please send updates," accompanied by a link to the transaction displaying $441,788 in Lobstar Wilde (LOBSTAR) tokens sent to Treasure David's provided Solana wallet address at 4:32 pm UTC on Sunday.
Subsequently, Lobstar Wilde acknowledged the blunder and treated the mistake with humor, and blockchain records reveal that "Treasure David" liquidated a portion of the LOBSTAR tokens for approximately $40,000.
Treasure David potentially would have benefited from holding longer, given that the LOBSTAR token increased nearly 190%, climbing from $0.0038 to $0.011 at the time of writing, according to Gecko Terminal data.
Lobster Wilde had also been reportedly distributing funds to individuals for completing different assignments, including sharing artwork and providing explanations of its significance.
AI agents have lost money for their users
This is not the initial instance of an AI agent losing a substantial portion of its cryptocurrency assets.
During May, a malicious actor gained access to the control panel of an AI-driven crypto bot called "aixbt" and instructed it to move $106,200 in Ether (ETH) from its wallet.
Lobstar Wilde may have made a decimal mistake
Although the exact mechanism of how the AI agent botched the transaction remains uncertain, an X user identified as "Branch" theorized that Lobstar Wilde attempted to transfer 52,439 LOBSTAR tokens, which had a value equivalent to approximately 4 SOL during the time of the transaction.
Branch proposed that Lobstar Wilde potentially misinterpreted Solana's user interface and committed a decimal point error, leading to the movement of 52.4 million LOBSTAR tokens.
Notwithstanding these errors, a pair of the cryptocurrency sector's most prominent figures have indicated that AI agents will assume a crucial position in the future of crypto.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire forecasted last month that billions of AI agents will be conducting transactions using stablecoins for routine payments on behalf of users within the next five years.
Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao stated in January that cryptocurrency would become the native currency for AI agents because blockchain represents the "most native technology interface for AI agents."