A nasty surprise for OpenAI. On Monday evening, the @OpenAINewsroom account, which relays the news of the AI company and has nearly 54,000 subscribers, was hijacked to promote a fraudulent cryptocurrency. An embarrassing incident that reminds us of the vulnerability of social networks to hackers.
A fake crypto “$OPENAI”
The problematic tweet, posted at 00:24 Paris time and since deleted, announced the launch of a so-called “$OPENAI” token linking AI and blockchain. “All OpenAI users can claim a share of the initial supply of $OPENAI,” the message promised, assuring that holding these tokens would grant access to the company’s future beta programs.
A link led to a site mimicking OpenAI, at an unrelated address. On that page, a “Claim $OPENAI” button prompted visitors to connect their cryptocurrency wallet, presumably to steal their credentials.
A worrying wave of hacking
OpenAI and X have yet to respond to the incident. The hacked account has not posted anything since to explain what happened. But this is not the first time that OpenAI-related profiles have been hijacked for these kinds of scams.
Last June, the account of Mira Murati, CTO of OpenAI, had relayed a similar message about this imaginary “$OPENAI” token. And three months ago, those of Jakub Pachocki and Jason Wei, respectively chief researcher and researcher at OpenAI, had suffered the same fate.
More broadly, many accounts of personalities and tech companies have been hacked in recent years on X (formerly Twitter) to promote crypto scams. In 2020, a hack targeting Apple, Elon Musk or Joe Biden was particularly talked about.
A very real threat
According to the FBI, Americans lost $5.6 billion in cryptocurrency scams in 2023, 45% more than in 2022. And 2024 is looking worse, with $2.5 billion already gone in the first half of the year according to the FTC.
Faced with this scourge, tech giants still seem poorly equipped. The hacking of the OpenAI Newsroom account, created in early September, is proof of this. It is urgent that X and its peers strengthen the security of their platforms. Otherwise, user trust, already damaged, risks crumbling even further.
