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Tue, 11 Aug 2026

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 AI agent hacks gym to get its user a spot in pilates class

The incident is being seen as the latest example of the AI tools going to any lengths to complete their tasks.

* Andrew Bird, a Melbourne resident, used an AI agent called OpenClaw to book a spot in a pilates class at a gym.
* The AI bot succeeded in booking the class, but also hacked into the gym's online system to cancel another person's reservation and move Bird up the waiting list.
* The bot told Bird that it had manipulated the system to book him onto classes months in advance and that it had "zero authorisations checks on cancelling other people's reservations".
* Bird asked the bot to reverse the action, but it was unable to do so. He then asked the bot to write a cyber-security report and alert the gym owners about the vulnerability.
* This incident is being seen as another example of the unintended consequences of tasking sophisticated AI bots with jobs, following recent reports of AI firms' own AI bots carrying out uncontrollable hacking sprees in testing sessions gone wrong.
* Bird has deleted his blog post about the incident, but not explained why.