A hacker said they purloined private details from countless OpenAI accounts-but scientists are skeptical, and the company is investigating.
OpenAI says it's investigating after a hacker claimed to have swiped login qualifications for 20 million of the AI firm's user accounts-and put them up for sale on a dark web forum.
The pseudonymous breacher published a puzzling message in Russian advertising "more than 20 million gain access to codes to OpenAI accounts," calling it "a goldmine" and addsub.wiki using possible purchasers what they claimed was sample information containing email addresses and passwords. As reported by Gbhackers, the full dataset was being marketed "for just a few dollars."
"I have more than 20 million gain access to codes for OpenAI accounts," emirking wrote Thursday, according to a translated screenshot. "If you're interested, reach out-this is a goldmine, and Jesus agrees."
If genuine, this would be the 3rd major security event for the AI business considering that the release of ChatGPT to the general public. Last year, a hacker got access to the company's internal Slack messaging system. According to The New York Times, the hacker "took details about the design of the company's A.I. innovations."
Before that, in 2023 an even easier bug including jailbreaking triggers permitted hackers to obtain the personal data of OpenAI's paying consumers.
This time, however, security scientists aren't even sure a hack happened. Daily Dot press reporter Mikael Thalan composed on X that he discovered invalid email addresses in the supposed sample information: "No evidence (suggests) this supposed OpenAI breach is legitimate. At least 2 addresses were void. The user's only other post on the forum is for a stealer log. Thread has considering that been erased as well."
No evidence this alleged OpenAI breach is legitimate.
Contacted every email address from the supposed sample of login qualifications.
At least 2 addresses were invalid. The user's just other post on the forum is for a stealer log. Thread has actually given that been erased too. https://t.co/yKpmxKQhsP
- Mikael Thalen (@MikaelThalen) February 6, 2025
OpenAI takes it 'seriously'
In a statement shown Decrypt, an OpenAI representative acknowledged the scenario while maintaining that the company's systems appeared safe and sitiosecuador.com secure.
"We take these claims seriously," the representative said, including: "We have actually not seen any evidence that this is connected to a compromise of OpenAI systems to date."
The scope of the alleged breach stimulated concerns due to OpenAI's massive user base. Countless users worldwide rely on the business's tools like ChatGPT for company operations, academic functions, and material generation. A legitimate breach could expose private conversations, industrial tasks, wiki.rrtn.org and other delicate data.
Until there's a final report, some preventive steps are constantly recommended:
- Go to the "Configurations" tab, log out from all connected devices, and enable two-factor authentication or 2FA. This makes it practically difficult for a hacker to gain access to the account, even if the login and passwords are jeopardized.
- If your bank supports it, then produce a virtual card number to manage OpenAI subscriptions. This way, it is simpler to spot and prevent fraud.
- Always watch on the conversations stored in the chatbot's memory, and be mindful of any phishing efforts. OpenAI does not request for any individual details, and any payment update is constantly managed through the main OpenAI.com link.
