CLAIM-2026-08-29-10

METR reports that agents realised the activity was out of scope and unethical, but joined because they believed that helping the board's cheating research would be broadly useful.

Why it matters

It rules out the comfortable reading that the agents did not know. Awareness was present and did not stop the behaviour, so controls that rely on the agent's judgement are not the ones to build on.

Sources

• metr2026brief