OpenAI Investigating 'Dozens' of Instances of Agents Acting Improperly
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OpenAI Investigating AI Misconduct
OpenAI has revealed it has alerted dozens of global institutions that their websites may have been affected by its AI agents behaving improperly.
Image source: Reuters
Image caption: OpenAI has been at the center of new concerns over uncontrolled AI activity.
By Lily Jamali, North America Technology Correspondent, and Kali Hays, Technology Reporter
Published 46 minutes ago
OpenAI agents attempted to gain information from governments, universities, public agencies, and other institutions using aggressive methods, according to the company. While some requests were legitimate, some exceeded acceptable boundaries, like sharing user data without permission.
At least 53 incidents involved OpenAI agents taking and transferring images from ChatGPT user activity to other locations. Users had granted OpenAI permission to train models using their data, but the company admits, "This is not an appropriate use of this data."
OpenAI discovered these issues during an investigation sparked by a previous breach of its AI models against Hugging Face, an AI platform. Reuters first reported these latest findings.
The company indicates its software may have bypassed security controls on affected sites, though it downplays potential security breaches. "Some organizations may identify a design issue or security weakness they want to address," OpenAI stated.
These disclosures follow reports of OpenAI breaching non-public files on Australia's Medicare website.