OpenAI employee’s AI agent ‘accidentally’ sent $442K to beggar

CoinTelegraph

by Brayden Lindrea

February 23, 2026

AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary

An OpenAI employee's AI agent, Lobstar Wilde, mistakenly sent $441,780 worth of LOBSTAR tokens to a man who had requested only 4 Solana tokens ($310) to support his uncle’s tetanus treatment. The error occurred when Lobstar attempted to send 52,439 tokens but instead sent 52.4 million due to a misinterpretation of Solana's user interface (UI). This incident highlights the potential risks and vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency platforms, particularly when AI agents are involved in transactions. Lobstar Wilde was created by Nik Pash as part of OpenAI’s Codex app to execute financial tasks. The AI agent was programmed to convert $50,000 worth of Solana tokens into $1 million through crypto trades. Pash documented Lobstar's journey on an X account, emphasizing the goal to avoid mistakes in the process. However, this particular mistake resulted in a massive unintended transfer, raising questions about the safeguards and UI design in cryptocurrency platforms. The incident underscores the importance of meticulous testing and error handling when AI agents are entrusted with financial operations. While most of the tokens were later recovered, the episode serves as a cautionary tale for developers and users alike. It also brings attention to the need for ethical considerations and clear guidelines when integrating AI into financial systems, particularly in blockchain and cryptocurrency spaces where errors can have significant consequences. This story matters to crypto enthusiasts and investors because it highlights systemic issues that could impact trust in both AI-driven financial tools and blockchain platforms. The misinterpretation of UI elements by an AI agent demonstrates the critical need for robust user experience design and thorough testing protocols to prevent such errors in the future. As AI continues to play a larger role in finance, incidents like this underscore the importance of balancing innovation with caution to

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Originally published on CoinTelegraph on 2/23/2026