A transformer compiled into a game console runs Pong, Tetris and 117 more CHIP-8 games
RevealIndividual7567 · reddit · 2026-10-16
A developer compiled a CHIP-8 console into a decoder-only transformer: the model is the game engine, executing instructions, updating memory, and rendering every frame via next-token prediction—each token is a memory write, keypresses go straight into the context window, no emulator involved. Weights are compiled from a circuit rather than trained (attention handles memory reads, ReLU circuits handle opcodes and arithmetic). The 18-layer, 42-head, 32M-parameter model (139k nonzero params, fp64) runs Pong, Tetris, Space Invaders and 116 other games—swap the ROM in the prompt to switch. Demo, weights, and MIT-licensed code available.
Related event: Chipformer: A Transformer That Runs 119 CHIP-8 Games as the Engine Itself(2 posts)→
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