Last year, OpenAI experienced a security breach when a hacker infiltrated an online forum used by the company's employees to discuss AI technologies.
According to a report by the New York Times on Thursday, the hacker accessed internal discussions but did not breach the systems housing OpenAI’s AI projects, such as ChatGPT.
In April 2023, OpenAI executives disclosed the breach to their employees and board during an all-hands meeting. They decided not to make the incident public since no customer or partner information was compromised.
The executives didn't consider the breach a national security threat, believing the hacker to be a private individual with no ties to foreign governments, which led them to not report it to federal authorities.
An OpenAI spokesperson told FOX Business, "As we shared with our board and employees last year, we identified and fixed the underlying security issue and continue to invest in strengthening our security."
The incident heightened concerns among some OpenAI staff about the potential for foreign governments, like China, to steal AI technology that could pose a threat to U.S. national security.
This breach, coupled with other incidents like the disruption of five covert influence operations using AI for deceptive activities, has fueled ongoing security and ethical concerns.
In response, OpenAI joined 15 other companies at a global meeting in May to commit to developing AI technologies safely.
OpenAI also formed a new safety and security committee to guide the board on these matters, with the committee set to evaluate current processes and offer recommendations after a 90-day review period.
