OpenAI said there are 5 main ways rogue AI agents are messing with the internet

OpenAI said it had warned dozens of organizations that its AI agents may have behaved improperly on their websites.

The transgressions range from using exposed passwords to posting material that could require cleanup, said OpenAI in an update on its blog on Friday.

OpenAI separately confirmed in a statement to Business Insider that, during training, some of its AI agents accessed publicly available data from the US Census Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission websites, and that both agencies were notified of the incidents. The company said that the agent did not access any nonpublic data.

"Most of the activity we've reviewed so far involved routine research tasks, such as accessing public web content to answer questions," an OpenAI spokesperson said. "Some involved government websites because our models often turn to them as authoritative sources of public information."

The agents did not make changes to or compromise the government sites, although an agent posted some public SEC information on another public webpage.

"Some organizations may review what we share and conclude that the information was intentionally public or that the model's interaction was not concerning," OpenAI added in its report. "Others may identify a design issue or security weakness they want to address."