A hacker has gained access to the internal systems of OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and stolen data related to the design of the company's artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
The incident, which occurred in early 2023, has not yet been disclosed to the public. The hacker obtained important information about how the company’s AI works from an online forum where employees were discussing OpenAI’s latest technology.
This breach of the company's system raised major security concerns within the company, in addition to concerns about US national security, according to the British newspaper, Daily Mail. The New York Times.
Leopold Aschenbrenner, a former OpenAI employee, recently referred to a “serious security incident” in a podcast, but did not provide further details on the extent of the stolen information. However, anonymous sources at the company told The New York Times The hacker only had access to the employee discussion forum and not to user data.
After the leak, Mr. Aschenbrenner, who was responsible for ensuring that future AI technologies did not cause serious harm, reported to the board about the apparent lack of effort to protect the company’s information. Despite Mr. Aschenbrenner’s claims, OpenAI maintains that his dismissal was not related to his concerns about security.
In response to the hack, OpenAI said it is working to strengthen its security measures. For example, OpenAI has added safeguards to prevent misuse of its AI applications and has created a security committee to monitor such incidents.