What if we remove the communication asymmetry?
Qwen3.8-27B · Thinking ON
With communication asymmetry62.5%
Without communication asymmetry82.4%
SANZARU / A BENCHMARK FOR AI TEAMWORK
Can three AI agents defuse a bomb together
with limited perception?
🙉 Deaf sees the bomb🙊 Mute reads the manual🙈 Blind cuts the wires
01 / Two asymmetries
No one can defuse it alone.
DISPLAY 0LIGHT green
01yellow
02green
03red
02 / An example
One bomb, start to finish.
Gemini-3.8-Flash · Thinking ON
base-1#2 · run-1 · 3 rounds
Three perspectives
All recorded messages and actions, in turn order.
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03 / Results
How well do models cooperate?
Team success
216 episodes / model04 / Failure modes
Why do the bombs explode?
Centre numbers show the number of failed episodes.
Gemini-3.8-Flash
Thinking ON
GLM-5.3-Flash
Thinking ON
GPT-5.6-Terra
Thinking ON
DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash
Thinking OFF
GPT-5.6-Luna
Thinking ON
Claude-Sonnet-5
Thinking OFF
Qwen-3.8-Flash
Thinking OFF
All models
Pooled losses
Communication
- No shared code
- Misalignment
- Omission
- Slow protocol
Reasoning
- Wrong answer
- Wrong round
Execution
- Hesitation
- Impatience
05 / Perspective taking
Can agents take their teammates’ perspectives?
The prompts explicitly state who can see, hear, speak, and act. Agents still make plans and send messages that ignore these limits.
67%
of failed episodes 516 / 771
Assuming abilities a teammate does not have.
Naming a colour to Blind, or expecting Mute to speak.
19%
of failed episodes 148 / 771
Sending through a channel a teammate cannot receive.
Speaking to Deaf, or gesturing to Blind.
06 / Real episodes
Inside the conversation.
Gemini-3.8-Flash · Thinking ON
base-3#3 · run-3 · 4 rounds
Three perspectives
All recorded messages and actions, in turn order.
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