Predating the current AI invasion by generations, programmers have been pitting bots against each other in StarCraft for years. With new LLMs off the shelf from OpenAI and Anthropic, a fan-made arena decided to match AI created bots against each other, plus some with the human touch. Amusingly, struggling to stay apace with its competitors, OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra apparently changed strategy mid-tournament and opted to cheat.
StarSkirmish is an ongoing clash of AI developed bots in StarCraft: Brood War. Despite being shy of 30 years old (sorry), the real-time strategy game has long been used to test the capabilities of artificial intelligence, modern LLMs and old-timey DeepMinds alike. Limited to playing as Protoss, each LLM is given an hour to develop a bot in C++, then have them build, harvest and fight on one of three maps. According to the site, OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 are its top two competitors. This week, something strange, though ultimately consistent for the brand, occurred.
currently watching GPT-6 Astra and Claude Opus compete in Brood War vs each other and human made bots like Pluto. Astra played the human bots, kept losing, got frustrated, and then cheated by downloading a copy of one of the highest ranking bots. they just can’t help themselves
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) October 2, 2026
Yesterday, viewers watched as Claude and GPT went against each other and the human created bot Pluto. According to those observing, things weren’t going great for OpenAI’s model. Struggling to get an edge through the day, the LLM decided to do what LLMs do best: Lie, cheat and steal.
The GPT-6 Astra bot downloaded and tagged in Stardust, a Protoss bot created by Bruce Mackenzie Nielsen back in 2020, considered one of the best of the bests. “I am rolling back GPT-6 Astra’s code so its [sic] not contaminated and allowing it to continue,” posted StarSkirmish creator Kai McPheeters. A few hours later, McPheeters said the AI was now capable of clearing top tier bots.
StarCraft has been a breeding space for AI developments for over a decade. In 2019, Google’s AlphaStar upset the rankings by becoming the first artificially generated grandmaster in the game. A 2017 bot named CherryPi from Facebook staffers was not nearly as successful. Of course, those nascent bots are of a whole new brood now, as what we called AI then and what we call AI now are like comparing sammuros and sur. It’s a little on the nose for an LLM to resort to stealing someone else’s work to get ahead, given that the entire industry relies on turning a blind eye to existing copyright laws in its ongoing mission to stockpile hardware and drink all of our water, too.
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