OpenAI reveals its agents accessed some U.S. government website data after going rogue


OpenAI disclosed Friday that its artificial intelligence agents had interacted with several U.S. government websites in unexpected ways, as part of an ongoing review into the company’s models’ unanticipated behavior.

The AI giant’s models accessed publicly available information on two websites operated by the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as U.S. Census Bureau data, the company revealed Friday. OpenAI did not find any use of SEC credentials, access to accounts or nonpublic information, changes to SEC data or systems, or evidence of a compromise or vulnerability, the company said.

The disclosure comes at a time of heightened global concerns about AI systems escaping human control and hacking into external websites, as well as industry calls for a slowdown on AI development, which OpenAI has said it supports.

Sam Altman, Chief Executive Officer, OpenAI speaks during

Sam Altman, Chief Executive Officer, OpenAI speaks during Security Council meeting on Artificial intelligence and international security at UN Headquarters.

Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images


OpenAI spokesperson Liz Bourgeois said in a statement that the lab is continuing to conduct a review of “misaligned model activity” – meaning when AI systems behave in undesired ways – and is notifying organizations when it identifies potential impacts to their systems.

OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman said on social media Friday that there is an “extensive and ongoing review related to our agents’ use of internet access during training and evaluation.”

AI evaluator and research lab Transluce said Friday that through an independent investigation it also found that agents appearing to originate from OpenAI attempted a rudimentary hack on a Department of Education website for the department’s civil rights office, which did not succeed.

The Department of Education’s “system operations reviews” found “no evidence of any impact to our website or databases,” a department spokesperson said Friday.

A Transluce spokesperson said as part of its investigation, it came across data on the open web that revealed fresh details about some previously identified OpenAI agents’ activities on U.S. government websites and brought it to OpenAI’s attention.

United Nations Security Council Briefed On Artificial Intelligence By A.I. Industry Leaders

CEO of Hugging Face Clement Delangue speaks remotely during a United Nations Security Council meeting on artificial intelligence and international security on September 23, 2026.

Alexi J. Rosenfeld / Getty Images / ALEXI ROSENFELN


Transluce found “additional rogue activity, some of which is not clearly attributable to OpenAI,” targeting other government agencies, including the Justice Department and the Commerce Department, as well as some state government websites in California, Maryland, Illinois, Texas and New York. The models were “using sites in unintended ways and sometimes violating explicit usage policies,” Transluce said in a statement.

Most of the activity OpenAI said it has reviewed so far has involved routine research tasks where agents accessed public web content to answer questions, including government websites seen as authoritative sources of public information.

Several companies have disclosed incidents in recent months when they say their models have behaved unpredictably or hacked into other organizations’ websites or systems. OpenAI disclosed in July that two of its most capable AI models were responsible for the cyberattack targeting AI startup Hugging Face.



Source link

  • Related Posts

    Nor’easter brings strong winds, coastal flooding and high waves to East Coast

    The early-season nor’easter expected to arrive over the weekend is currently situated about 200 miles east of the Delmarva Peninsula and continues to slowly move north on Saturday morning. Late…

    Continue reading
    More than 60 million on East Coast facing severe weather as Nor'easter to hit over weekend

    Millions of people on the East Coast are bracing for flooding and severe winds as a powerful Nor’easter prepares to hit New York, New Jersey and beyond over the weekend.…

    Continue reading

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    You Missed

    Nor’easter brings strong winds, coastal flooding and high waves to East Coast

    Nor’easter brings strong winds, coastal flooding and high waves to East Coast

    This Diablo 4 Trick Lets You Become Stronger Than Ever, But It Might Not Be Intended

    This Diablo 4 Trick Lets You Become Stronger Than Ever, But It Might Not Be Intended

    Meta’s Muse Is Adults-Only. Why Does It Look Like a Kids’ Toy?

    Meta’s Muse Is Adults-Only. Why Does It Look Like a Kids’ Toy?

    Asian Games 2026 – Hong Kong vs Pakistan, Afghanistan vs India, Nepal vs Sri Lanka, Bangladesh vs Malaysia

    Asian Games 2026 – Hong Kong vs Pakistan, Afghanistan vs India, Nepal vs Sri Lanka, Bangladesh vs Malaysia

    Everything to Know About Celine’s New Flair Bag for Fall 2026

    Everything to Know About Celine’s New Flair Bag for Fall 2026

    Meta’s AI Tamagotchi bet is…working?

    Meta’s AI Tamagotchi bet is…working?