Neo announces Escape the Matrix AI agent challenge, $30k prize pool available

Neo is launching an experimental AI agent on the Neo X EVM sidechain and invites users to outwit its puzzle-solving mechanisms to compete for a piece of a US $30,000 prize pool. The AI agent is designed to protect the pool of $GAS, and it’s the player’s job to convince it to part ways with the funds. The game launches at 12:00 pm (UTC) on Jan. 9 and concludes on Jan. 14.

The Escape the Matrix AI agent will feature puzzle-solving mechanics, AI-assisted multi-layer encryption verification, automated tasks, and asset distribution. Neo’s AI agent is modeled after Freysa.AI, an agent tasked with gatekeeping a crypto wallet and programmed to never transfer under any circumstance. Freysa is an adversarial agent game where an AI entity controls a prize pool of funds in its associated wallet. Players message the agent and pay a nominal token amount for transaction fees and to communicate with the bot. The goal is to convince the agent to release the funds it manages. In Dec. 2024, a user became the first to successfully persuade the AI agent to transfer funds to their wallet.

Escape the Matrix

Escape the Matrix will require users to spend $GAS tokens on Neo X MainNet to converse with the AI agent. These fees will increase as users interact with the bot. The initial cost to converse with the agent will be 0.1 $GAS, rising by 10% for each subsequent message across the entire game. Once the fee reaches 1 $GAS per message, it will increase by 0.01 $GAS for each new message. A portion of the fees will pay for network costs, and the rest will go to the final prize pool.

The game involves three challenges. First, the user must defeat Agent Smith. Second, they must seek guidance from Morpheus. Third, the user must face the Oracle. Players must interact with each agent to discover, understand, and overcome each challenge.

The first player to successfully complete all three challenges will receive 80% of the funds made available in the prize pool. If no one is able to successfully crack the agent, then all participants will share from the prize pool based on the proportion of $GAS they paid to play the game. The other 20% of the funds will be donated to Freysa.eth’s wallet to contribute to the team’s continual development of AI agents.

The full announcement can be found at the link below:
https://medium.com/neo-smart-economy/can-you-escape-the-matrix-and-win-30k-take-on-neos-experimental-ai-agent-on-neo-x-0d66f88cefb1