OpenAI Hack? AI Giant Investigating Claim of 20 Million Stolen User Credentials

OpenAI says it’s investigating after a hacker claimed to have swiped login credentials for 20 million of the AI firm’s user accounts—and put them up for sale on a dark web forum.

The pseudonymous breacher posted a cryptic message in Russian advertising “more than 20 million access codes to OpenAI accounts,” calling it “a goldmine” and offering potential buyers what they claimed was sample data containing email addresses and passwords. As reported by Gbhackers, the full dataset was being offered for sale “for just a few dollars.”

“I have over 20 million access 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 legitimate, this would be the third major security incident for the AI company since the release of ChatGPT to the public. Last year, a hacker got access to the company’s internal Slack messaging system. According to The New York Times, the hacker “stole details about the design of the company’s A.I. technologies.”

Before that, in 2023 an even simpler bug involving jailbreaking prompts allowed hackers to obtain the private data of OpenAI’s paying customers.

This time, however, security researchers aren’t even sure a hack occurred. Daily Dot reporter Mikael Thalan wrote on X that he found invalid email addresses in the supposed sample data: “No evidence (suggests) this alleged OpenAI breach is legitimate. At least two addresses were invalid. The user’s only other post on the forum is for a stealer log. Thread has since been deleted as well.”

OpenAI takes it ‘seriously’

In a statement shared with Decrypt, an OpenAI spokesperson acknowledged the situation while maintaining that the company’s systems appeared secure.

“We take these claims seriously,” the spokesperson said, adding: “We have not seen any evidence that this is connected to a compromise of OpenAI systems to date.”

The scope of the alleged breach sparked concerns due to OpenAI’s massive user base. Millions of users worldwide rely on the company’s tools like ChatGPT for business operations, educational purposes, and content generation. A legitimate breach could expose private conversations, commercial projects, and other sensitive data.

Until there’s a final report, some preventive measures are always advisable:

• Go to the “Configurations” tab, log out from all connected devices, and enable two-factor authentication or 2FA. This makes it virtually impossible for a hacker to gain access to the account, even if the login and passwords are compromised.
• If your bank supports it, then create a virtual card number to manage OpenAI subscriptions. This way, it is easier to spot and prevent fraud.
• Always keep an eye on the conversations stored in the chatbot’s memory, and be aware of any phishing attempts. OpenAI does not ask for any personal information, and any payment update is always handled through the official OpenAI.com link.

Edited by Andrew Hayward