These Researchers Made AI Drive a Toyota Corolla to Get In-N-Out
Three engineers put GPT, Claude, and Grok in charge of a real car. Only one of them was successful.
Three researchers from Axiom managed to get an AI model, GPT-6 Astra, to drive a 2024 Toyota Corolla to In-N-Out. They linked a chat interface to a server connected to cameras and the car’s power steering system. A safety driver monitored the vehicle, ready to intervene if needed. The AI, typically used for text, code, and images, navigated the car up to the take-out window.
One engineer remarked that artificial general intelligence might be closer than previously thought. Although nothing alarming occurred, the researchers acknowledge that using general-purpose AI in a fast-moving, heavy vehicle is a high-risk endeavor. Today’s smartest models excel at answering complex questions and performing virtual tasks, but they become confused when applied to the physical world.
Researchers are now focusing on physical reasoning for AI to advance robotics and other applications. The trio’s In-N-Out experiment aimed to test AI’s ability to navigate the real world, not specifically to drive cars. The results suggest that language-based AI models starting to gain a basic understanding of the physical world, but there’s still a long way to go before they can safely operate complex vehicles.
Written by urgent.news from Wired's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
