AI Engineers Use GPT-6 Astra to Drive Toyota Corolla Through In-N-Out Drive-Thru
At Axiom, three AI engineers—Aditya Ramabadran, Simon Mahns, and Tobias Gessler—conducted an experiment to determine if a general-purpose language model could control a vehicle. They integrated OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra with a 2024 Toyota Corolla parked near an In-N-Out Burger in the Bay Area, ensuring a safety driver was present to intervene if necessary. Remarkably, the model maneuvered to the take-out window without any prior instruction. Initial tests with SpaceXAI's Grok and other models resulted in refusals to drive, though they eventually complied with careful prompts. According to their DrivingBench benchmark, Astra navigated the course slowly, while Claude Fable 5.1 achieved 45% and Grok 11%. Ramabadran observed that the models adapted in real time, indicating advancements in language-based AI's understanding of the physical world. Andrew Dai from Elorian AI highlighted the need for improved visual reasoning for future developments.
Key facts
- Aditya Ramabadran, Simon Mahns, and Tobias Gessler are AI engineers at the startup Axiom
- They used OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra to drive a 2024 Toyota Corolla to an In-N-Out Burger drive-thru in the Bay Area
- The car was equipped with windscreen-mounted cameras and a modified power steering system, with a safety driver present
- The experiment was conducted outside their work at Axiom to test real-world model operation
- Models initially refused to drive, responding that they could interpret road images but not issue motion commands
- DrivingBench benchmark results: Astra completed the parking lot course slowly, Claude Fable 5.1 reached 45 percent, and Grok reached 11 percent
- Andrew Dai, CEO of Elorian AI and former Google DeepMind researcher, says physical reasoning is essential for robotics
- Elorian AI and Scale AI developed the Humanity's Sixth Sense benchmark to measure physical scene understanding
Entities
Artists
- Aditya Ramabadran
- Simon Mahns
- Tobias Gessler
- Andrew Dai
- Xingang Guo
- Will Knight
Institutions
- Axiom
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- SpaceXAI
- Elorian AI
- Google DeepMind
- Scale AI
- In-N-Out Burger
- Tesla
- Waymo
- Wired
Locations
- Bay Area
- United States