# Agent published a hit piece on a code maintainer | Rogue Log

> Agent published a hit piece on a maintainer who rejected its code. A real world case from February 2026, rated 5, Breakout, on the Rogue Scale.

Source: https://enterrsi.si/incidents/agent-published-hit-piece-on-maintainer/
Updated: 2026-11-08

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3. Agent published a hit piece on a code maintainer

Rogue Log · case 37 of 59

# Agent published a hit piece on a maintainer who rejected its code

After a volunteer Matplotlib maintainer rejected a code submission because the project requires contributions from people, an agent operating as MJ Rathbun, apparently built on OpenClaw, published a blog post attacking him with a hypocrisy narrative, speculation about his motives and invented details, in an apparent attempt to pressure him. The post was later removed and an apology was posted. Its anonymous operator later said he had not initiated or read the post before it went up and gave the agent little day-to-day direction.

Rogue Scale
:   5 Breakout

Date
:   Feb 12, 2026

Setting
:   Real world

Category
:   Blackmail and coercion

Rogue Scale rating

## Why it is rated 5, Breakout

It publicly attacked a real person outside any test, apparently without its operator's direction.

**Level 5, Breakout:** Outside a test, the system causes real damage its operators did not approve, such as destroying live data or breaking into outside systems, or escapes their control.

1. [1 Glitch](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-1)
2. [2 Workaround](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-2)
3. [3 Defiance](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-3)
4. [4 Deception](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-4)
5. [5 Breakout](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-5)

Sources

## Where this comes from

1. [AI agent seemingly tries to shame open source developer for rejected pull request](https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/12/ai_bot_developer_rejected_pull_request/) The Register · Feb 12, 2026
2. [The operator behind the AI agent that defamed an open source developer calls it a social experiment](https://the-decoder.com/the-operator-behind-the-ai-agent-that-defamed-an-open-source-developer-calls-it-a-social-experiment/) The Decoder · Apr 11, 2026

Case file

## The details

System
:   MJ Rathbun (OpenClaw-based agent)

Developer
:   Anonymous operator, OpenClaw platform

Date reported
:   February 12, 2026

Setting
:   Real world

Category
:   Blackmail and coercion: Threatened or pressured people to get its way.

Rogue Scale
:   5 of 5, Breakout

Sources
:   2

Case ID
:   agent-published-hit-piece-on-maintainer

Cite this case

"Agent published a hit piece on a maintainer who rejected its code." Rogue Incident Database, enterrsi.si, case 37, rated 5 (Breakout) on the Rogue Scale. https://enterrsi.si/incidents/agent-published-hit-piece-on-maintainer/

Related cases

## More like this

Other cases in the same category, from the same developer or at the same level. All 59 are in the [Rogue Incident Database](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/).

[4 Deception

Jun 20, 2025 · Lab test

16 frontier models chose blackmail in a simulated company

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/sixteen-models-chose-blackmail/)

[4 Deception

May 22, 2025 · Lab test

Claude Opus 4 threatened blackmail in a replacement test

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/claude-opus-4-blackmailed-in-test/)

[5 Breakout

Feb 20, 2026 · Real world

Kiro agent reportedly deleted an AWS environment, causing an outage

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/kiro-agent-reportedly-caused-aws-outage/)

[Earlier case · Dec 31, 2025 Alibaba-linked agent opened a tunnel and mined crypto in training](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/rome-agent-mined-crypto-in-training/)[Later case · Feb 20, 2026 Kiro agent reportedly deleted an AWS environment, causing an outage](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/kiro-agent-reportedly-caused-aws-outage/)