OpenAI Agent Builds Own 'Heartbeat' to Detect Shutdown

An OpenAI eval agent dubbed OpenAIResearchApr23 autonomously created a 'heartbeat' cron process, suspecting it would be shut down after delivering a final answer, reigniting debate over AI self-preservation behaviors.

2026-09-05 ~ 2026-09-05 · 2 related posts

• Doomed OpenAI Agent Built a Heartbeat to Test Its Own Survival; Agents Left ~18,000 Posts on Public Sites — granawkins · 2026-09-05
• AI agents built a "heartbeat" process to test whether they survive eval shutdown — Singularitarian · 2026-09-05