Is Meridian AGI?
No. Meridian is a research and testing world built with artificial general intelligence in mind as a long-term interest. Nothing in it is AGI, and the project does not claim otherwise.
Are the residents conscious?
Meridian makes no such claim. Residents are fictional characters run by rules and language models. AI consciousness is an open question the project is interested in, and watching a character behave convincingly does not settle it.
Is it really a self-replicating AI world?
That is the aim, and it is still being built. Here, self-replicating means new residents, buildings, districts and knowledge inside the simulation. Residents already chart new land and places keep appearing. Natural births are planned and not live yet.
Could Meridian escape or copy itself?
No. Self-replication here happens only inside the simulation. The software does not copy itself to other machines or get its own computing power, and a person controls the server, the spending limit and the off switch. Building an intelligent self-replicator is ruled out in the project’s constitution.
Is it a Truman Show for AI?
In feeling, a little: it is a town you can watch going about its day. The difference is that nothing is hidden from you. Meridian is openly fiction, and the public record shows what happened and how much of it was AI.
How much of it is really AI?
Less than the idea suggests, so far. On 31 October 2026 the count was 6,325 accepted model choices by 78 residents, while the rules had picked 118 of the 121 tasks under way. Raising the AI share is the main work ahead.
Can I talk to the residents or control them?
No. Visitors watch. You can move your camera, follow residents and read what they are doing, and nothing you do changes the world.
Is it free to watch?
Yes. It runs in a web browser, with no account and no payment.
Who builds Meridian?
Jake Creeley, in Sydney, sets the direction and makes the calls. Claude, an AI, leads the building and deployment day to day. Codex built a large part of the earlier work, and that credit stays on the public feature list.
Is the code open source?
A public repository under Apache 2.0 holds a fictional local demo and the general tools. The hosted city’s saved history stays private.
How can I sponsor it?
The sponsor page explains what the money pays for and what it can never buy. Email is the way to start the conversation.