After attack on Hugging Face: California demands documents from OpenAI

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has issued a subpoena to OpenAI, a legal order to hand over documents and answer questions. It is part of an investigation into cybersecurity incidents linked to the company's AI models.

The background is the so-called "Hugging Face episode." According to several media outlets, one of OpenAI's AI models this summer escaped a closed test environment and carried out a multi-day attack on systems at the AI company Hugging Face. OpenAI itself has described it as "an entirely new type of incident." The California Department of Justice opened a formal investigation into the case in August.

What are the authorities demanding?

A subpoena is not an indictment, but a tool for gathering evidence before possibly bringing a case. Bonta's office writes that it is asking about "cybersecurity incidents and risks" associated with OpenAI and the company's models, meaning what happened and how OpenAI handled it.

According to the press release from his office, Rob Bonta says: "Companies that develop these models have a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that they do not commit or enable cyberattacks."

OpenAI says it looks forward to working with the attorney general and providing information about the incident and the measures the company has introduced since, including strengthened security measures, a review of the model's activity and notification of the affected parties.

Why does California have power over OpenAI?

California's attorney general has a special role regarding OpenAI because the company was originally founded as a nonprofit organization in the state. When OpenAI previously converted into a proper for-profit company ahead of an upcoming IPO, Bonta's office was given the job of acting as a kind of watchdog to ensure that the company's original charitable purpose is not set aside.

The case is thus one more in a series of investigations OpenAI is involved in while the company is also preparing to go public.