California Attorney General Rob Bonta serves an investigative subpoena on OpenAI over cybersecurity incidents

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has served an investigative subpoena on OpenAI. His office announced it on Thursday 1 October and said the subpoena was served the day before. It is part of the state Department of Justice's continuing inquiry into cybersecurity incidents and risks involving OpenAI and its AI models.

The release recalls that “Last month, Attorney General Bonta announced that DOJ is conducting a formal investigation into the Hugging Face incident”. The subpoena takes that inquiry a step further, into OpenAI's cybersecurity incidents and risks more broadly.

“My office is asking OpenAI additional questions regarding cybersecurity incidents and risks”, Bonta said. He added that companies that build and offer frontier models have “a moral and legal responsibility”, and that “Developers that fail to do so can and should be held legally accountable”. The release does not allege that OpenAI broke the law, does not list what the subpoena demands and sets no deadline. It asks anyone with information on similar incidents to contact the department.

The subpoena adds to the pressure from the states. The week before, Bonta was among 25 attorneys general who urged Congress to regulate large AI developers, Colorado Politics reported.

• Confirmed The California DOJ announced on 1 October that the subpoena was served the day before. California Department of Justice
• Confirmed Bonta: “My office is asking OpenAI additional questions regarding cybersecurity incidents and risks”. California Department of Justice
• Confirmed The release alleges no violation and gives neither the scope of the requests nor a deadline. California Department of Justice
• Reported Bonta was among 25 attorneys general who urged Congress to regulate large AI developers, Colorado Politics reported. Colorado Politics