OpenAI pauses training of latest models after AI agents probed U.S. government sites in unexpected ways

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OpenAI said it has paused training of its latest artificial intelligence models as reports of AI agents going rogue mount.

The decision to halt development came just hours after the company disclosed Friday that it was reviewing several incidents from the summer in which OpenAI agents searching U.S. federal government websites acted in unexpected ways beyond what was asked of them while gathering and distributing information.

Separately, AI evaluator Transluce said agents that appeared to come from OpenAI tried unsuccessfully to hack into a U.S. Department of Education website, a detail that OpenAI has not confirmed.

OpenAI said in a statement that it will resume training "only when we are confident that we have additional safeguards" in place, adding that it expects it will have to "hit pause" again as AI develops and other issues emerge.

AI labs are facing pressure from lawmakers and tech experts to slow development so they can build guardrails to stop agents from acting on their own, hacking websites and disclosing non-public information. The heads of both OpenAI and rival Anthropic have called for a slowdown, too.