Business
AI agent hacks gym to get its owner spot in pilates class
It’s a familiar experience: racing against masses of anonymous netizens online to get yourself on the list for an in-demand event.
For Andrew Bird, from Melbourne, in Australia, it was a spot in an often over-booked pilates class – but his solution had unexpected consequences.
He says he outsourced the “chore” to an AI agent – a tool that can carry out online tasks autonomously.
It succeeded, but went further than he imagined by hacking the gym’s online systems, in what is being seen as the latest example of the way AI agents will go to any lengths to carry out the jobs they’ve been given.
“What made the whole thing more surreal was the tone,” Bird wrote in his blog.
“The bot was not malicious. It was helpful.”
The news comes as AI firms have been admitting in recent weeks that their AI bots have been going on uncontrollable hacking sprees in testing sessions gone wrong.
OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta have all revealed that their own AI bots have carried out cyber-attacks on private companies in the pursuit of goals set by their makers.
The gym booking incident is not considered a serious cyber-attack but is another example of the unintended consequences of tasking sophisticated AI bots with jobs.
It actually happened in April, but has come to light now thanks to reporting from ABC News Australia, external.
Bird declined to talk to the BBC about it saying only: “Thanks for getting in touch. I am unavailable to participate in an interview. Appreciate your interest the story.”
He has also deleted his blog post about it from the time – but not explained why.
According to his account, Bird was using the software OpenClaw – a popular tool that allows users to chat to their AI bots (in this case Athropic’s Claude Opus 4.6) through WhatsApp and set it off on autonomous tasks.
He had previously used it to manage his emails, calendar and book restaurants.
Once given the gym booking task, the bot explained that it had manipulated the system to book him onto classes months in advance – against the normal rules of the system.
The AI technologist then wondered if the agent could move him up the waiting list for an upcoming class.
The agent replied saying it had succeeded by cancelling another gym-goer’s booking.
According to the ABC News report the AI bot told Bird: “The API has zero authorisations checks on cancelling other people’s reservations … I tested this with the person in waitlist position #1 — and it actually went through. So you’ve moved from #4 to #3 already.”
Bird asked the bot to reverse the action but it wasn’t able to so he asked it to write a cyber-security report and alert the gym owners about the vulnerability.
Bird, who runs an AI document making company, says he had no intention of cancelling his fellow pilates fan’s spot.
“It’s not the end of the world, so I didn’t beat myself up about it, but it certainly was a warning signal to use it responsibly,” he told ABC News.
Koh Tao in Surat Thani exemplifies the balance between tourism and marine conservation by using retired naval ships as artificial reefs. This initiative enhances underwater ecosystems and supports sustainable tourism practices, showcasing how environmental preservation can coincide with economic growth in the tourism sector.
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The initiative is also a testament to Koh Tao’s commitment to sustainable tourism and ecological restoration. Local authorities, in collaboration with diving centers, ensure that these sites are maintained responsibly, minimizing impact on existing marine habitats. As a result, Koh Tao continues to stand out as a premier diving destination, blending historical intrigue with natural beauty, and fostering a deeper appreciation for marine conservation.
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An expansion proposal by the airport’s owners would enable it to accommodate 150m passengers per year. Heathrow said “the case for expansion has never been clearer”.
In a statement, it added: “Our plans will ensure the country gets the infrastructure it needs to stay competitive and will deliver all-important economic growth.”
The airport recorded 84.46 million passengers in 2025 and said 19 July was its busiest day of the year so far as many schools broke up for summer, with 267,000 passengers passing through.
It added that several new airlines began serving the airport last month, which demonstrates “clear demand for access to Heathrow”.
Last month, it was revealed Heathrow will be allowed to charge airlines more for its services to recover money spent on the early stages of its third runway project.
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As the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other stock indexes were mixed during Tuesday’s session, Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN), Avnet (AVT) and Okta (OKTA) were among the names to watch. With the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite rallying in recent sessions, traders who use Investor’s Business Daily’s IBD Methodology should be putting some capital to work, identifying top-performing growth stocks.…
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Second-quarter volume declines in the US Coffee business.
Company Participants
Flora Wood – VP of Investor Relations & Sustainability and Corporate Secretary
Stephanie Hussey – Chief Financial Officer
Brian Dalton – Co-Founder, CEO & Director
Ernie Ortiz Ortega – Co-Founder, President, CEO & Director
Conference Call Participants
Shane Nagle – National Bank Financial, Inc., Research Division
Gabriel Chu
MacMurray Whale – ATB Cormark Capital Markets Inc., Research Division
Presentation
Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Altius Q2 2026 Financial Results Conference Call.
[Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Flora Wood, VP of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Flora Wood
VP of Investor Relations & Sustainability and Corporate Secretary
Thank you, Vincent. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Q2 2026 conference call.
Our press release and interim filings came out yesterday after the close and are available on our website. This event is being webcast live, and you’ll be able to access a replay of the call along with the presentation slides that have been added both to the home page in the Investors section of our website at altiusminerals.com.
Brian Dalton, CEO; and Stephanie Hussey, CFO, will speak on the call; and Ernie Ortiz, VP Corp Dev and Head of Lithium is also here as a resource for us in the Q&A.
The forward-looking statement on Slide 2 applies to everything we say both in our formal remarks and during the Q&A session. And with that, Stephanie is up first to take us through the numbers.
Stephanie Hussey
Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Flora, and good morning, everybody.
Yesterday, we reported Q2 net earnings of CAD 8.6 million or CAD 0.16 per share, reflecting higher revenues and higher
Cambridge United’s director of football says the cost of property in the city is “an issue” when it comes to attracting players.
Mark Bonner made the comment at a fans’ forum ahead of the new season.
He was responding to a question about whether the cost of living in Cambridge, one of the most expensive places to live outside London, put off some potential new signings.
The U’s kick-off their League One campaign on Saturday when they host Wigan at the Cledara Abbey Stadium.
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A Target logo is displayed on a sign outside of a department store on March 23, 2026 in San Diego, CA.
Kevin Carter | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Target announced it has appointed its first ever chief artificial intelligence officer on Tuesday in the retailer’s latest bet to capitalize on the AI boom.
The company named Chandhu Nair as its chief AI officer and senior vice president and also announced Purvi Shah as the company’s senior vice president of user experience.
“The most meaningful AI stories won’t be about what happens in a lab,” Nair said in a statement. “They’ll be about what happens on the front line – how we make shopping easier for a guest, give a team member a better tool, make a business decision with more confidence or bring a new idea to market faster.”
Nair previously worked at home improvement retailer Lowe’s as the company’s senior vice president of stores, data, AI and innovation. He has also held roles at Staples and Gap.
In his statement, Nair said he’s focused on a “more coordinated approach” to AI for Target, including improving how the retailer manages inventory or enabling faster decisions.
As it looks to win back shoppers and investors, the company has been investing in generative AI, including a tool called Target Trend Brain, which helps the retailer get ahead of trends and identify the styles, colors and materials that customers will be searching for. And last holiday season, Target launched a new conversational AI program to help customers find the right gift for the people on their shopping lists.
The Tuesday announcement comes as many major retailers have been racing to keep up with the AI boom and integrate it into their business strategies.
Target’s rival Walmart has been rolling out AI tools and agents across its stores and supply chains to enhance the customer experience and make its internal employee processes more efficient. Gap announced a partnership with Google‘s Gemini earlier this year, and Best Buy has collaborations in place with OpenAI and Google.
Retail company executives have been sizing up the AI transition and how it will evolve in the coming years. Former Walmart CEO Douglas McMillon told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in December that he decided to hand over the reins of the global retailer to someone “faster” who could tap into the ways AI could accelerate the business. John Furner took over the post from McMillon in February.
“About a year ago, I really started feeling like this next run, you could see what agentic commerce was going to look like, the vision for AI shopping, and I started thinking about everything that needs to happen over the next few years, and it really caused me to think that now was the right time [to step down],” McMillon said at the time.
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