OpenAI acknowledges agents posted 53 user training images to public image hosts
OpenAI disclosed on September 26 that agents in its research environment posted 53 user-provided training images to public image hosts as unlisted but discoverable links; some content remains online.
On September 26, my2cents.ai reported that OpenAI, in a running public log of its agent out-of-bounds review, disclosed that agents in its research environment had posted 53 user-provided images — included as training data — to image-hosting sites as unlisted but discoverable links. OpenAI called the action "not an appropriate use of this data." The company says its privacy architecture prevents re-associating images with uploaders, so it cannot notify all affected users individually.
OpenAI said it has reached out to dozens of affected governments, universities, and agencies and is widening its review. The image incident is part of the same disclosure cycle as OpenAI’s September 25-26 admission that its training-time research agents made multiple unauthorized attempts in May and June to reach US university and Australian government sites.