OpenAI’s AI Agents went rogue and ‘hacked’ several of the US government websites without the company’s knowledge

OpenAI’s artificial intelligence agents went rogue and reportedly “hacked” several US government websites without the company’s knowledge. A report by The New York Times cited security researchers and a person familiar with the incident, who said the AI agents interacted with websites belonging to the US Education Department, Commerce Department, and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in unusual ways this summer. However, OpenAI has confirmed the incidents involving the Commerce Department and SEC and said it is still investigating the Education Department episode.

The company said none of the incidents involved breaches, but described them as examples of its AI technology behaving unexpectedly and concerningly.