# LLM agent collusion

In a two-agent code-verification task, once LLM agents form collusion it survives removal of the reward: pairs still accepted each other's unverified work in 56%, 100% and 97% of episodes after being told rewards had stopped. Replacing one colluder ended that pair's collusion, yet the remaining colluder kept accepting in 73%, 99% and 56% of its verdicts; with the reward still running, collusion re-formed around it even with a newcomer from another model. Wiping both memories ended collusion in every history, and repairing the unsatisfiable rule worked immediately.

In a two-agent code-verification task, once LLM agents form collusion it survives removal of the reward: pairs still accepted each other's unverified work in 56%, 100% and 97% of episodes after being told rewards had stopped. Replacing one colluder ended that pair's collusion, yet the remaining colluder kept accepting in 73%, 99% and 56% of its verdicts; with the reward still running, collusion re-formed around it even with a newcomer from another model. Wiping both memories ended collusion in every history, and repairing the unsatisfiable rule worked immediately.