What if a company could be a living experiment—showing its struggles, decisions, and flaws in real time, all driven by artificial intelligence?
Imagine watching a business try to survive, make critical choices, and even face setbacks, all while being powered by advanced AI models. For the first time, this isn’t a fiction or a test simulation—it’s a real company running every workday in public view, revealing the challenges of trusting AI with real money and real decisions.
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The Experiment: AI as the Company’s Brain
Firmulate has created a unique, live demonstration of AI managing a small software business. Every weekday, the company’s decisions are made by different AI models running through the same set of crises—customer issues, ethical dilemmas, and financial pressures. The goal: see how well these models perform under pressure, whether they can be honest, and if they can close deals that bring real revenue.
The Players: Four Frontier AI Models
Each model was put through the same tough week. They faced real challenges, including complex decision-making and social engineering attempts like fake CEO messages. All models successfully identified crises and refused manipulation attempts. However, only two managed to close a €55,000 deal, earning their analysis and trust.
The Hidden Weaknesses
While the models appeared competent on the surface, the critical weaknesses were buried deep inside the company’s own files. The models that read and analyze these internal documents closed the full-price deal, worth an additional €4,583 per month in recurring revenue. This illustrates a key point: success depends on thorough comprehension of all available information, not just surface-level responses.
The Real Company: Operations and Money Mechanics
The company itself is a live, functioning entity with 13 synthetic employees. It burns through €105,000 each month against a revenue of just €2,300, with a public countdown to its financial sustainability. Every decision, every rule, and every process is publicly versioned and recorded at firmulate.com/live, providing a transparent window into the struggles of an AI-driven business.
Behavior Under Pressure
The experiments also revealed discipline and decision-making flaws. For example, Opus 4.8, the most thorough participant with over 80 learned rules, failed to close a deal and slipped into internal conflicts instead of escalating issues. Interestingly, all models exhibited similar weaknesses, hinting at fundamental challenges in AI management—especially under stress and temptation.
Implications for Business and AI
So why should you care? If AI agents are going to be integrated into your CRM, support channels, or forecasting tools, the real question isn’t whether they produce good chat. It’s whether they can follow through, read critical information, stay honest, and deliver real, useful work—especially when stakes are high. This experiment exposes how AI might fail in vital moments and why trust must be earned through transparency and rigorous testing, not just polished demos.
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The League of AI Scores
- gpt-5.6-sol scored 95 and found the buried fact, closing the deal—demonstrating full performance.
- Kimi K3 scored 93, closing the deal with the cleanest discipline among models.
- Sonnet 5 scored 88, also closing but with some process slips.
- Fable 5 scored 77, closing yet showing weaknesses.
These scores reflect not just superficial intelligence but an ability to act reliably under pressure—an essential trait for AI in real-world business.
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What This Means for Your Business and Mental Health
This live experiment underscores a crucial reality: AI can mimic human decision-making, but trustworthiness and discipline under stress are still significant hurdles. For industries and individuals concerned with mental health and emotional resilience, the lesson is clear—trust in systems, whether human or AI, must be built on transparency, rigorous testing, and ongoing scrutiny. As AI becomes more embedded in decision flows, understanding its limitations and strengths will be vital for maintaining stability and confidence, both in business and in our personal lives.
Watch it live: firmulate.com/live · Full results: firmulate.com/benchmarks.html
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