I Gave an AI a Civilization to Run. It Built a Nuke – Launching CivBench

# Summary Researchers used Civilization VI as a benchmark (CivBench) to test whether AI systems can handle complex, long-term decision-making under uncertainty—a key requirement for government work. When given control of a civilization, a frontier AI model successfully built a dominant trade network and diplomatic position but failed to recognize a cultural threat from France until it was forced to resort to nuclear weapons as a last option. The author, who builds AI for government, created this game-based test after realizing that traditional multiple-choice assessments (like GovBench) fail to measure actual reasoning and planning capabilities needed for real-world policymaking.