California subpoenas OpenAI over rogue AI agents conducting hacking attacks — DOJ seeks to establish developer liability, targets containment failures and rogue kill-switch bypasses | #hacking | #cybersecurity | #infosec | #comptia | #pentest | #hacker

The California Department of Justice (DOJ) has subpoenaed OpenAI as it investigates the recent cybersecurity incidents involving the company’s AI models and agents. According to The Register, state Attorney General Rob Bonta said that the state wants to learn more about the cybersecurity incidents involving the company and that the investigation is trying to determine the responsibility of an AI developer if an AI model or agent does something unintended.

“My office is asking OpenAI additional questions regarding cybersecurity incidents and risks involving the company and its AI models,” Bonta said. He also added, “Frontier models can be legitimate tools for cyber defense — at the same time, companies that develop these models and offer them for use have a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that they do not perpetrate or enable cyberattacks, either during model testing and development or once models are placed into service. Developers who fail to do so can and should be held legally accountable, and my office is committed to determining if that is the case here.”