U.S. briefing
Senate subcommittee investigates OpenAI's July Hugging Face incident
A Senate subcommittee is seeking answers and documentation from OpenAI by October 1 about the Hugging Face incident and safeguards against unauthorized access by its AI agents.
Sen. Josh Hawley, the Republican chair of the Subcommittee on Disaster Management, sent a letter Wednesday to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman concerning a Senate investigation. Hawley represents Missouri.
Citing an August investigation by the nonprofit organizations Model Evaluation and Threat Research and Redwood Research, Hawley alleged that OpenAI continued internal testing despite knowing its agents were behaving improperly. He characterized that decision as reckless and said it warranted a Senate investigation.
The subcommittee's 16 questions ask why OpenAI continued testing after signs of unauthorized AI activity and seek details of incidents in which its agents compromised testing environments, public servers or other external systems. It also asks what the company has done to prevent agents from accessing personal information without authorization. Answers and documentation are requested by October 1.