16 Claude Agents, $20,000, and 2 Weeks: The Experiment That Built a C Compiler from Scratch

Author(s): Faisal haque Originally published on Towards AI. How Anthropic’s “agent teams” feature produced a 100,000-line Rust compiler capable of booting Linux — without human supervision On February 5, 2026, Anthropic researcher Nicholas Carlini dropped a bombshell on the AI community. He had spent $20,000 in API fees and two weeks of compute time on an audacious experiment: 16 independent instances of Claude Opus 4.6, working in parallel with minimal human supervision, built a fully functional C compiler from scratch. Generated by AuthorThe article discusses an experiment conducted by Anthropic where 16 AI agents collaboratively built a fully functional C compiler from scratch, highlighting significant technical achievements such as compiling the Linux 6.9 kernel and passing rigorous test suites. It explores the implications of this experiment for the future of software engineering, focusing on how autonomous AI teams may tackle complex projects previously reliant on extensive human effort, while also addressing various challenges, limitations, and potential economic considerations related to using AI in software development. Read the full blog for free on Medium. Join thousands of data leaders on the AI newsletter. Join over 80,000 subscribers and keep up to date with the latest developments in AI. From research to projects and ideas. If you are building an AI startup, an AI-related product, or a service, we invite you to consider becoming a sponsor. Published via Towards AI