OpenAI said a group with apparent ties to China attempted to carry out a phishing attack on its employees, reigniting concerns that bad actors in Beijing want to steal sensitive information from major US AI companies.
A suspected China-based group called SweetSpecter posed as a user of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT earlier this year and sent customer support emails to employees, the AI startup said on Wednesday. OpenAI said the emails included malware attachments that, if opened, would have allowed SweetSpecter to take screenshots and filter data, but the attempt failed.
“OpenAI’s security team contacted employees believed to have been targeted in this phishing campaign and found that existing security controls prevented emails from accessing their company emails,” OpenAI said.
The revelation highlights potential cybersecurity risks for leading AI companies, as the US and China engage in a high-stakes battle for AI supremacy. In March, for example, a former Google engineer Charged Stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets for a Chinese company.
The Chinese government has repeatedly denied US allegations that organizations inside the country are committing cyber attacks, and accused external parties of organizing smear campaigns.
OpenAI revealed the attempted phishing attack as part of its latest threat intelligence report, which outlines its efforts to combat influence operations around the world. In the report, OpenAI said it removed accounts from groups with ties to Iran and China that used artificial intelligence to help with programming, research and other tasks.
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