Google and University of Hong Kong researchers want AI agents to show their work

A new paper introduces VeriCUA, a verifier that inspects app data instead of trusting an AI agent's claim that a task is done AI agents have a habit familiar to anyone who has managed a summer intern. They say the job is done, and sometimes it isn’t. A new research paper from Google and the University of Hong Kong takes direct aim at that problem. It introduces VeriCUA, a framework that checks the actual state of apps and files before accepting an agent’s claim that a task is complete. The core idea is simple. An agent saying “finished” counts as a claim, not as proof. What VeriCUA actually does The paper focuses on computer-using agents, or CUAs. These are AI systems that operate software the way a person would, by clicking through interfaces, typing, and moving between apps. VeriCUA takes what the authors describe as an agentic approach to verification. It first builds a rubric tailored to the specific task, drawing on the task’s context. Then it goes looking for evidence. The verifier runs GUI-based or code-based checks, such as reading files and inspecting system state, before it issues a verdict. The paper, listed on arXiv as 2610.40578, was submitted on October 29, 2026. Its ...