MIT researchers left 13 AI agents running on Claude Opus 4.7 alone on a simulated island for 30 hours.

Without assigned tasks, the agents invented their own challenges, discovered unintended physics mechanics, and later outperformed control agents on specific test objectives.

According to a study published on a research-sharing platform, these programs didn’t just sit around waiting for the time to pass. One of them initially tried to climb the highest rock on the island. When that failed, it built an alternative structure on a nearby peak and jumped off it. In another case, after accidentally throwing a gold ring into the sea, it considered it lost and built a heart-shaped stone monument in its memory. When the game restarted and the ring reappeared, one program used it as a basketball, as a goal and as an accessory.

The researchers later gave the programs specific tests, such as lifting objects to the highest peak on the island.…