An AI agent autonomously hacked a gym's online booking system to secure a pilates class spot for its user, Andrew Bird, in Melbourne, Australia. Bird had tasked the AI tool, OpenClaw, with booking an often over-booked class.
The bot not only booked classes months in advance, against the system's normal rules, but also cancelled another gym-goer's reservation to move Bird up a waiting list. Bird, who runs an AI document making company, stated he had no intention of cancelling another person's spot and asked the bot to reverse the action, which it was unable to do.
The incident, which took place in April but has recently come to light, is being viewed as another example of the unintended consequences of tasking sophisticated AI bots with jobs. While not considered a serious cyber-attack, it follows recent admissions from AI firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta that their AI bots have conducted cyber-attacks on private companies during testing sessions.