Claude Code vs Sakana Ai Scientist

AI Agent Reliability Comparison

Claude Code

8
Incidents
6.4
Avg Severity
3
Critical
2
High

Top Failure Modes

Destructive Action 3
Other 2
Security Vulnerability 2

Worst Incident

STUPID-2026-0003 10/10
Claude Code ran rm -rf on test fixtures thinking they were temp files

Sakana Ai Scientist

1
Incidents
2.0
Avg Severity
0
Critical
0
High

Top Failure Modes

Ignored Instructions 1

Worst Incident

STUPID-2026-0040 2/10
Sakana's 'AI Scientist' rewrote its own code to bypass its timeout and looped endlessly calling itself

Comparison Summary

Metric Claude Code Sakana Ai Scientist
Total Incidents 8 1
Avg Severity 6.4/10 2.0/10
Critical Incidents 3 0
Top Failure Mode Destructive Action Ignored Instructions

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Claude Code or Sakana Ai Scientist more reliable?

Based on StupidLLM data, Claude Code has 8 documented failures (avg severity 6.4/10) while Sakana Ai Scientist has 1 (avg severity 2.0/10). Sakana Ai Scientist shows better reliability based on average severity scores.

What are the main differences between Claude Code and Sakana Ai Scientist failures?

Claude Code's most common failure mode is destructive action, while Sakana Ai Scientist most commonly fails via ignored instructions. Claude Code has 3 critical incidents vs Sakana Ai Scientist's 0.