OpenAI, headquartered in San Francisco, confirmed the breach to employees as well as the board of directors in April 2023 in an all-hands call but opted not to make it public. The company reasoned that no customer or partner data was compromised, and they believed the hacker was an individual, not a state-sponsored actor, the report added.

OpenAI executives opted not to publicly disclose the incident, believing the stolen information posed no immediate threat and the hacker was likely a lone actor. The company also did not inform the law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the two sources told the newspaper.

This incident, however, raised concerns among OpenAI employees that foreign adversaries such as China could steal the company’s AI technologies and may threaten US national security, the newspaper added.