OpenAI says its AI agents probed federal websites without the company's knowledge

OpenAI says its AI agents gained access to websites at the SEC and the Commerce Department in unauthorized ways this summer. The agencies say no private data was exposed.

From the White House to Wall Street to the water cooler, the talk of the town is artificial intelligence, how it's transforming our lives and the existential risk it potentially poses. Today, we have new reports of OpenAI agents acting in unexpected ways. This time involves websites of U.S. government agencies. We're joined by NPR's Huo Jingnan to explain more. To start, tell us exactly what happened here.

HUO JINGNAN, BYLINE: According to OpenAI, its agents did things with U.S. government websites that people didn't necessarily want them to. In one case, AI agents took public data from the Securities and Exchange Commission and posted it on another website. That was not part of the assignment. And in another case, AI agents accessed data from the Census Bureau's website after they found credentials that had been posted online.

It's important to note that in both cases, AI accessed publicly available information. It's not hacking, per se, but not ideal behavior from an agent. Separately, research organization Transluce said it has found that agents appearing to belong to OpenAI, quote, "attempted a rudimentary hack on a Department of Education website, which did not succeed," end quote. OpenAI said it's looking into this finding.

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