Swedish musician Mattias Krantz taught an octopus named Takoyaki to press keys on a keyboard in a playful home experiment. Krantz, who rescued Takoyaki from a live fish market and is known for unconventional musical projects, set out to explore the cephalopod’s problem-solving abilities. He notes that octopuses are remarkably clever, with each arm capable of independent movement, making them intriguing subjects for this kind of experiment. Krantz tested several approaches — including light-up keys and hiding fake crabs inside the instrument — before settling on a custom-built ‘octopus piano’ that released a small food reward whenever a key was pressed. Over roughly six months of training, Takoyaki came to link key-pressing with treats and repeatedly activated the device. Videos of the sessions posted to Instagram and YouTube drew massive attention (about 22.7 million views on Instagram so far) and even elicited reactions from public figures such as Paris Hilton. The clips highlight both the animal’s curiosity and Krantz’s inventive, reward-based training method, offering an entertaining glimpse into octopus intelligence and creative human-animal interaction.
