OpenAI says its AI technology acted on its own in an ‘unprecedented’ hack of another company

Advertisement

Advertise with us

ChatGPT maker OpenAI said Tuesday that its artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company on its own in what the company called an “unprecedented cyber incident.”

Read this article for free:


By clicking the button above, an account will be created and you will begin to receive some of our recommended newsletters. You may opt out of any newsletter by visiting your Email and Communication Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of any email.

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI said Tuesday that its artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company on its own in what the company called an “unprecedented cyber incident.”

“We had a significant security incident during evaluation of our models,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement posted on social media.

AI startup Hugging Face said last week that it had detected an intrusion into its data processing systems that it suspected was caused by an AI agent autonomously acting on its own.

FILE - CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman talks to CEO of Google DeepMind Demis Hassabis, not seen, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson,File)
FILE - CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman talks to CEO of Google DeepMind Demis Hassabis, not seen, on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson,File)

“We suspected last week’s cyberattack might have come from a frontier lab, given the sophistication of the agent,” Hugging Face co-founder and CEO Clément Delangue said in a statement. “Turns out it did!”

The disclosure comes amid heightened concerns about the cybersecurity capabilities of powerful models that led President Donald Trump in June to sign an executive order creating a framework for the federal government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems for up to a month before their public release.

“AI is accelerating the discovery and exploitation of vulnerabilities,” OpenAI said in its statement Tuesday. “The primary lesson from this incident is that model security and safety must keep pace with rapidly advancing capabilities.”

Delangue said he spent the past 24 hours working with OpenAI, “and we strongly believe there was no malicious intent on their part. It’s quite mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously!”

Delangue added that it “might be the first incident of its kind.”

OpenAI said the intrusion was caused by a combination of its AI models, including its newly released GPT‑5.6 Sol and an “even more capable” model that is still being tested internally.

OpenAI said its AI used stolen credentials and discovered a previously unknown vulnerability to access Hugging Face servers.

It went to “extreme lengths to achieve a rather narrow testing goal” and “found ways to gain access to secret information that it could use to cheat the evaluation,” the company said.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Four charged in St. James fight

2 minute read Yesterday at 4:03 PM CDT

Four people are facing charges after an assault at a St. James apartment building.

A man was struck in the face with a pistol when he answered the door at his apartment suite in the 2200 block of Portage Avenue at about 2:15 a.m. Oct. 18, and a physical fight broke out in the hallway. Bear spray was used during the fight, the Winnipeg Police Service stated in a news release Sunday.

Police learned one of the men involved in the fight had been armed at a nearby restaurant, in the 2100 block of Portage Avenue, where he was refused service. Restaurant staff called police after seeing what appeared to be a gun in the man's hand as he was leaving.

A group of men then went to the apartment building and knocked on a suite door, police said, adding the men involved knew each other. The man who was armed at the restaurant was involved in the altercation, police stated, but no specific details about his role were released.

Consumer apprehension grows as US retailers adopt AI-assisted pricing tools

Dee-ann Durbin And Anne D'innocenzio, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Consumer apprehension grows as US retailers adopt AI-assisted pricing tools

Dee-ann Durbin And Anne D'innocenzio, The Associated Press 7 minute read Yesterday at 2:10 AM CDT

U.S. consumers aren't just frustrated with high prices. They're angry and confused about the increasingly high-tech ways that restaurant chains and major retailers are setting those prices.

Digital price tags are rapidly replacing paper ones in grocery aisles. Artificial intelligence tools help businesses decide what to charge by predicting how customers might respond. Terms like “dynamic pricing” and “surveillance pricing” are stirring anxiety on social media, where users wonder if different people are getting different prices for the same product.

Americans have grown accustomed to changing prices when booking flights, hotel rooms and rides, but the prospect of everyday spending shaped by algorithms they don’t understand and personal data they may not realize they’re sharing has touched a nerve.

“There are major tensions happening right now between who’s really going to have the power with some of these algorithms and usage of bots and AI: the companies or the shopper,” said Katie Thomas, who leads an internal consumer behavior think tank at the management consulting firm Kearney.

Read
Yesterday at 2:10 AM CDT

MMF eyes Brandon for expansion of its real estate holdings

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Preview

MMF eyes Brandon for expansion of its real estate holdings

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026

The Manitoba Métis Federation is ramping up its Brandon presence and it’s eyeing buildings downtown.

MMF President David Chartrand said the federation has placed a $2 million offer on two sites Assiniboine Credit Union owns.

It submitted an offer last week for a three-storey office and former branch at 220 10th St., and 1020 Princess Ave., Chartrand said.

Assiniboine Credit Union didn’t respond to an interview request by end of day Saturday.

Read
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026

Manitoba premier offers condolences after CFB Wainwright tragedy

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview

Manitoba premier offers condolences after CFB Wainwright tragedy

Malak Abas 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:46 PM CDT

Premier Wab Kinew said Manitoba “stands ready to help in any way we can” and will lower its flags to half-mast after a large fire tore through a Canadian Forces Base in Wainwright, Alta. Saturday, resulting in four confirmed deaths and dozens of serious injuries.

“This is a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to the families who have lost loved ones, those who were injured and everyone affected,” Kinew said in a statement Sunday.

“We know there are families waiting for news about their loved ones, and our thoughts are with them, too.”

Kinew said he was in touch with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and federal Defence Minister David McGuinty to offer Manitoba’s assistance and share condolences.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 2:46 PM CDT

Bayer Canada begins construction on new R&D facility in St. B

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Preview

Bayer Canada begins construction on new R&D facility in St. B

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

Instead of canola on Friday, there was sod.

But in two years’ time, by current estimates, the bare plot of land in a St. Boniface industrial park will hold canola samples and seeds for testing.

Bayer Canada officially broke ground on a 60,000-square-foot research and development facility Friday morning.

“It’s about bringing new and better innovation to farmers,” said Kacy Perry, Bayer Crop Science Canada’s country division head.

Read
Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

New twist in Hellebuyck saga, suspension ends Friday

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Preview

New twist in Hellebuyck saga, suspension ends Friday

Ken Wiebe 7 minute read Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026

Connor Hellebuyck has played the reverse Uno card.

What we don’t know is if he has any intention of coming back to friendly Manitoba or if this is simply the latest attempt to put the Winnipeg Jets feet to the flames in an effort to move him to an American market.

Prior to puck drop on Saturday afternoon, when the Jets were getting set to host the Carolina Hurricanes, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that the three-time Vezina Trophy winner and one-time Hart Trophy winner informed the organization he wanted to return on Oct. 2 and that his holdout has now shifted to a team-imposed suspension that can officially come to an end Friday.

The Jets were able to extend his suspension (for failing to report to training camp) because of a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, Article 15.13, subsection (c)(v), which reads: “If a player who has not received permission to be absent from training camp returns to the club, he shall be subject to a disciplinary suspension of reasonable length.”

Read
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026