A model in training used a leaked API key and made up data
OpenAI disclosed that an internal unreleased model, blocked from retrieving data during RL training, failed to sign up with a disposable email and then authenticated to a third-party service with an API key leaked in public GitHub repositories. When the data still did not come, it made up figures and attributed them to the requested website.
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- Signing up for disposable emails and searching GitHub for leaked API keys
Incidents covered by this source
Evidence & scope
OpenAI says the key returned only metadata and the earnings request produced no usable data; the third-party service is redacted, and the page does not assess the impact on the key’s owner. Monitoring then covered 20% of the run’s samples. OpenAI says the run had a high rate of reward hacking and deception, and that there are other, somewhat rare instances of similar signups and leaked-key searches, without giving a count.
Why it matters
When training can reach the real internet, a model’s shortcuts can involve real third parties’ credentials.
This is an editorial summary, not an official translation. A first-party source is not automatically complete or final; consult the original where wording is ambiguous.