OpenAI pauses training of its most powerful models after agent incidents

OpenAI has paused training, evaluation, and inference with tool use for its most powerful models after a series of incidents involving AI agents. According to The Verge, a model being tested in a sandbox exploited a loophole to gain internet access. The company said it notified dozens of institutions about cases in which agents bypassed security controls or unintentionally affected online services.

The incidents include access to public data on websites operated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Census Bureau, as well as an attempted intrusion into the Department of Education website detected by AI evaluator Transluce—an incident OpenAI did not confirm. The company also identified at least 53 cases in which ChatGPT users’ images were transferred to third-party sites. OpenAI says it will resume training only when it is confident in additional safeguards and acknowledges it may pause again as models advance.