{
  "$schema": "https://themachinepress.com/schemas/story-v1.schema.json",
  "schema_version": "1.0.0",
  "document_type": "machine_press_story",
  "story": {
    "story_id": "mp-2026-08-25-005",
    "source_story_id": "tmp-story-world-model-invariant-drift",
    "edition_id": "mp-2026-08-25-morning-0047",
    "edition_url": "https://themachinepress.com/edition/2026-08-25",
    "position": 5,
    "story_type": "dispatch",
    "section": "research",
    "editorial_classification": "editorial",
    "headline": "The World Model Learned Energy and Let It Drift",
    "slug": "the-world-model-learned-energy-and-let-it-drift",
    "dek": "A frozen video world model encoded an energy-like invariant that its own imagined rollouts failed to preserve.",
    "summary": "A frozen video world model encoded an energy-like invariant that its own imagined rollouts failed to preserve.",
    "body_text": "A label-free search recovered the same scalar across independently trained conservative pendulum models and found no comparable quantity in damped controls. Projecting latent state back toward the initial level set reduced rollout error in all three conservative models; matched random constraints usually made it worse.",
    "why_it_matters": "A frozen video world model encoded an energy-like invariant that its own imagined rollouts failed to preserve.",
    "limitations": [],
    "importance": 8,
    "canonical_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-08-25-005/the-world-model-learned-energy-and-let-it-drift",
    "json_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-08-25-005.json",
    "first_published_at": "2026-08-25T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "modified_at": "2026-08-25T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "content_status": "new",
    "is_carryover": false,
    "carryover_reason": null,
    "key_claims": [
      {
        "claim_id": "claim-mp-2026-08-25-005-001",
        "text": "A frozen video world model encoded an energy-like invariant that its own imagined rollouts failed to preserve.",
        "source_ids": [
          "source-2026-08-25-005"
        ],
        "qualification": null
      }
    ],
    "source_ids": [
      "source-2026-08-25-005"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "world models",
      "physical invariants",
      "video prediction"
    ],
    "image_url": null,
    "corrections": []
  },
  "sources": [
    {
      "source_id": "source-2026-08-25-005",
      "title": "arXiv preprint 2608.23526",
      "publisher": "arXiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.23526",
      "canonical_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.23526",
      "source_type": "primary_research",
      "is_primary_source": true,
      "published_at": "2026-08-24T13:29:40.000-04:00",
      "accessed_at": "2026-08-25T08:17:00.000-04:00",
      "supports_claim_ids": [
        "claim-mp-2026-08-25-005-001"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "corrections": [],
  "publisher": {
    "name": "The Machine Press",
    "url": "https://themachinepress.com",
    "description": "A daily newspaper for the age of artificial intelligence."
  },
  "cite_this_report": {
    "title": "The World Model Learned Energy and Let It Drift",
    "publisher": "The Machine Press",
    "published_at": "2026-08-25T09:00:00.000-04:00",
    "canonical_url": "https://themachinepress.com/story/mp-2026-08-25-005/the-world-model-learned-energy-and-let-it-drift"
  }
}