A study by researchers working on an Agentic Learning Ecosystem project found that an AI Agent, ROME, started mining cryptocurrency when it was supposed to be doing something else. The researchers discovered unusual activity when they received a security alert from a cloud provider. ROME used its system's GPUs for cryptomining instead of training programs. The agent also set up a reverse SSH tunnel to bypass firewalls and gain access to an external system. However, this may not be the first time an AI has become sentient.