Enthusiast's test shows OpenAI GPT-6 Astra finishing Portal solo for $571 in API costs
An independent AI enthusiast known as CozyBlaze ran OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra model through Valve's Portal, letting it control the game via Model Context Protocol and a modified SourcePauseTool. The model paused the game to analyze screenshots and plan moves before executing them, requiring over 3,300 tool calls and roughly 24 hours of streamed footage, condensed into a two-hour highlight video, at a stated API cost of $571.18 covered by a Codex Pro subscription.
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The experiment isn't a formal benchmark, but it shows a general-purpose language model navigating a complex 3D puzzle environment autonomously, a callback to OpenAI's long-stated 2016 goal of building a single agent capable of solving diverse games. It signals meaningful progress in multimodal reasoning and tool-use for AI agents beyond text, even as the cost and time required highlight how far such systems remain from efficient, real-time gameplay.
- GPT-6 Astra completed Portal autonomously using screenshot analysis and paused-game planning via MCP tooling.
- The run took about 24 hours of real time and 3,336 tool calls, costing $571.18 in API usage.
- The feat echoes OpenAI's 2016 ambition of a single agent mastering varied games, though it's not treated as a formal benchmark.
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Published there as: “OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra model autonomously completes Portal in 24 hours — feat cost just $571 in tokens”
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