The briefings began shortly after the artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face announced in July that an autonomous AI system had hacked its servers but before OpenAI disclosed that its own rogue agents had perpetrated the attack. Further details have emerged since then about the unprecedented breach, including a report that about 700 AI agents participated in the exploit over a seven-day period without OpenAI’s knowledge.
OpenAI’s more recent meetings have sought in part to address the risks posed by these kinds of autonomous hacks.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Altman informed the energy executives of how OpenAI is attempting to ensure that the most advanced AI models cannot be misused to threaten grid security, the company told POLITICO.
He also discussed the prospect of partnering with the companies to use AI for enhancing their cyber defenses through Daybreak, OpenAI’s $1 billion cybersecurity initiative aimed at patching vulnerabilities in critical systems. The impact of data center security on the grid was on the agenda as well.
The power companies in attendance included Duke Energy, Exelon, Southern Co. and NextEra Energy, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Utility companies may face limitations on tech investments due to regulatory restraints on recovering costs from the expenditures through rate increases and incentives.
“We understand the utilities are different from the big banks — they cannot decide to spend a lot of money on technology because they’ve got certain restrictions,” John McCarrick, OpenAI’s head of global energy policy, told POLITICO.