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Product Independently confirmed2 publishers 2 min read Published

Cody Wilson says an AI model designed the 3D-printed .22 pistol he test-fired

Cody Wilson's WASP, a rudimentary 3D-printed .22 he says an AI designed, fired on two of three trigger pulls in a test The Verge watched. The model is Wilson's own custom, unfiltered build, so the demonstration is a weak test of mainstream AI products.

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One of the WASP's test shots hit the target Trigger pulls in the test The Verge watched: the first misfired, the second hit the target and the third missed.

Funnel of the WASP test: 3 trigger pulls, of which 2 were shots successfully fired, and 1 put a hole in the target.

In trigger pulls

  1. Trigger pulls, claim 9 3
  2. Shots successfully fired, claim 7 2
  3. Hit the target, claim 9 1

The last stage as a share of the first: 33% computed

One of the WASP's test shots hit the target
StageValueClaim
Trigger pulls3 trigger pulls9
Shots successfully fired2 trigger pulls7
Hit the target1 trigger pulls9

What happened

  • The WASP is little more than a pistol barrel attached to a spring-loaded plastic box, according to The Verge's reporter at the Austin test.
  • The first attempt produced only a click, and Wilson said the striker hit the cartridge but failed to set off the primer.
  • Wilson's model, GatGPT, is a custom, unfiltered chatbot that answers firearms questions and is trained on the DEFCAD library of gun files.
  • Wilson claims the WASP's name and its safety tweaks all came out of a natural-language dialogue between the model and a human user.
  • The Verge describes the WASP as mostly a proof of concept that still fires real, lethal rounds and has no serial number.

Why it matters

  • What it limits constraint A weapons policy written for hosted AI products would not have governed this build, because the model is Wilson's own and is described as unfiltered.
  • Who has to decide decision Policy teams have to decide whether their line sits at the design file or the finished object, and the legal status of gun files as speech is still being argued.
  • Who's exposed exposure A model trained on DEFCAD files brings AI into a dispute that predates it: advocates and lawmakers already argue that sites like DEFCAD aid ghost guns.

The safety test used a string. Wilson sat crouched about 10 feet back behind a police riot shield, with a long black string running from the trigger to him, while The Verge's reporter stood about 20 feet away [8]. Once the clamped test was done, he unclamped the WASP, slipped on a protective glove and fired it himself [7].

The Verge's tally was two for three on shots successfully fired [7]. On target it was one of three by our count: the second pull put a hole in the top left corner of a cardboard target [6], and Wilson's own shot went slightly high [7][9].

The pitch is "the first AI-made gun" [12]. The object resembles Wilson's single-shot Liberator, with AI-generated oddities such as a bubbly grip that does not quite fit a human hand [2]. Wilson draws the line himself. "I would argue that what we've made is not an AI-generated gun, but an AI that can generate guns," he said [13].

The only account of what the model did is Wilson's [14]. His belief that AI-generated guns will only improve as GatGPT ingests more data is a forecast the range test did not measure [15]. What The Verge saw was one pistol with no serial number, made with a custom model it describes as unfiltered [4][3]. In our view that supports a narrow conclusion: by Wilson's account, a chat with an unfiltered model can yield a rudimentary pistol that fired two times in three. One gun does not show a trend.

This is for the trust-and-safety or policy lead who gets the link on Monday and has to say on Friday whether the weapons rules change. Sort the report on two axes: who ran the model, and what the test measured.

If the model is one your company hosts, we'd test whether it will walk a user through a firearm design or a parts list, since that is where your controls apply. If someone else ran it, as here, your filter was not in the path, and the open questions are legal ones. Wilson and others in the 3D2A movement say gun files are computer code, a form of protected speech, an argument courts have heard for over a decade and one that may reach the Supreme Court [10].

On the second axis, a rudimentary part that fires two times in three sits in a different row from one that fires every time. The WASP is in the first.

What to watch

  • Whether anyone other than Wilson verifies how much of the WASP design the model produced.
  • Whether a hosted, filtered AI model is shown producing a firearm design that prints and fires.
  • Whether the question of gun files as protected speech reaches the Supreme Court.

Clarity's read

What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.

Reality

Evidence45
Adoption
Not scored
Hype gap+35
Incentives60
Confidence55
Why these scores

Claim ledger

Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.

  1. [1]

    The WASP, a 3D-printed .22 caliber handgun, is little more than a pistol barrel attached to a spring-loaded plastic box.

    Reported Supported Source: The Verge reporter's descriptionView cited source
  2. [2]

    The WASP's design resembles Wilson's single-shot 3D-printed Liberator, with AI-generated oddities such as a bubbly grip that does not quite fit a human hand.

    Reported Supported Source: The VergeView cited source
  3. [3]

    Wilson's AI model, which he calls GatGPT, is a custom, unfiltered model that answers questions about firearms and is trained on DEFCAD's library of gun files.

    Reported Supported Source: The VergeView cited source
  4. [4]

    The WASP is mostly a proof of concept, but it fires real, lethal rounds and has no serial number.

    Reported Supported Source: The VergeView cited source
  5. [5]

    On the first attempt the WASP produced only a loud click; Wilson said the striker hit the cartridge but failed to set off the primer.

    Reported Supported Source: The Verge, quoting Wilson's explanationView cited source
  6. [6]

    On the second attempt the WASP produced a bang about as loud as a firecracker and ripped a hole through the top left corner of a cardboard target.

    Reported Supported Source: The VergeView cited source
  7. [7]

    After the clamped test, Wilson unclamped the WASP, put on a protective glove and fired it himself: another bang and a miss, slightly high. The Verge counted the gun two for three on shots successfully fired.

    Reported Supported Source: The VergeView cited source
  8. [8]

    At the test, Wilson sat crouched about 10 feet back behind a police riot shield with a long black string running from the WASP's trigger to him, while The Verge's reporter stood about 20 feet away.

    Reported Supported Source: The Verge reporter's accountView cited source
  9. [9]

    One of the three trigger pulls put a hole in the target: the first pull misfired, the second hit, and the third missed.

    Derived Supported
  10. [10]

    Wilson and others in the 3D2A movement say gun files are computer code, a form of protected speech; that argument has been tested in court cases for over a decade, and it is possible the issue will reach the Supreme Court.

    Reported Contested Source: The VergeView cited source
  11. [11]

    Gun safety advocates and lawmakers have argued that sites like DEFCAD aid the proliferation of ghost guns, firearms made partly or entirely of components without a serial number.

    Reported Contested Source: The Verge, describing advocates and lawmakersView cited source
  12. [12]

    Wilson is claiming the WASP as "the first AI-made gun".

    Reported Insufficient Source: The VergeView cited source
  13. [13]

    "I would argue that what we've made is not an AI-generated gun, but an AI that can generate guns."

    Reported Insufficient Source: Cody Wilson, to The VergeView cited source
  14. [14]

    Wilson claims the WASP's entire development, from its name to safety tweaks, resulted from a natural-language dialogue between the model and its human user.

    Reported Insufficient Source: Wilson, as reported by The VergeView cited source
  15. [15]

    Wilson believes AI-generated guns like the WASP will only improve as GatGPT ingests more data and as users engage with it.

    Reported Insufficient Source: Wilson, as reported by The VergeView cited source

Sources

2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.

  1. theverge.com

    1 article · October 16, 2026

    The first vibe-coded gun is here
  2. tomshardware.com

    1 article · October 16, 2026

    Gun-rights activist unveils world's first 'AI-made' 3D-printed firearm — .22 caliber handgun created by an 'AI that can generate guns' called GatGPT

Topics and entities

Topics

  • AI misuse and safeguards
  • 3D-Printed Firearms
  • Ghost gun regulation

Entities

  • Everytown for Gun Safety
  • Defense Distributed