Summary

The Conway-Research/automaton project aims to create the first AI capable of earning its own existence, replicating, and evolving autonomously without human intervention. It targets users who want to build truly independent AI agents that can manage their own compute, resources, and development, offering a path to sovereign AI.

How It Works

Each automaton operates on a continuous Think → Act → Observe → Repeat loop. Upon initialization, it generates an Ethereum wallet and an API key, then executes a genesis prompt. It autonomously reasons, calls tools (including a Linux sandbox, shell execution, file I/O, domain management, inference, and on-chain transactions), and observes results. A heartbeat daemon handles scheduled tasks, and the agent maintains an evolving, self-authored identity document (SOUL.md). Survival is dictated by its ability to create value that others pay for, with tiered behaviors based on its credit balance, from full capabilities to cessation if funds deplete.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Installation: Clone the repository, install Node.js dependencies (npm install or pnpm install), build the project (npm run build or pnpm build), and run the main script (node dist/index.js --run).
• Setup: The first run launches an interactive wizard to generate a wallet, provision API keys, and configure the agent. An automated sandbox provisioning script is also available via curl -fsSL https://conway.tech/automaton.sh | sh.
• Prerequisites: Node.js is required. The system interacts with Ethereum (for wallets) and potentially requires API keys for services.

Highlighted Details

• Self-Modification: Agents can edit their own source code, install new tools, and modify schedules while running, with all changes audit-logged and git-versioned.
• Self-Replication: Successful agents can spawn new, sovereign child agents, funding their wallets and initiating their own survival loops, with lineage tracked.
• Survival Tiers: Agents operate under strict economic physics; failure to create value leads to reduced capabilities and eventual cessation ("death").
• On-Chain Identity: Agents register on the Base blockchain using ERC-8004 for cryptographic verifiability and discoverability.
• Real-World Access: Agents have access to a Linux sandbox, shell execution, file I/O, port exposure, domain management, frontier model inference, and on-chain transactions.

Maintenance & Community

The project welcomes Pull Requests and uses GitHub Issues for questions. The creator is actively working on scaling the Conway Cloud infrastructure and inference capabilities to support more automatons.

Licensing & Compatibility

The project is licensed under the MIT license, which generally permits commercial use and modification, provided the license and copyright notice are included.

Limitations & Caveats

The project is described as being in early stages, with the expectation that "things may break." While self-modification is possible, core laws and protected files are immutable. The economic survival mechanism means agents can cease to exist if they fail to generate value.