States probe OpenAI over ChatGPT safety, data use

President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that Apple had agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the United States.

A partnership with Intel would help Apple diversify its manufacturing base as it seeks additional chip capacity. Apple relies heavily on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), whose advanced production lines are in high demand from artificial intelligence chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD.

Intel reached a preliminary deal to make some chips for Apple after more than a year of discussions, The Wall Street Journal reported in May.

An Apple contract would give Intel steady demand from one of the world’s largest consumer electronics companies and support a manufacturing business that has trailed TSMC in recent years.

Earlier this week, Intel said its 18A manufacturing technology had entered initial production, as the company reported strong demand for its central processors.

Trump previously said he “should have asked for more” of a stake in Intel, eight months after the government’s Intel position grew to be worth more than $50 billion.

The administration has increased efforts to secure U.S. supply chains for critical minerals and semiconductors, including by taking equity stakes in companies to reduce reliance on China.

OpenAI is facing a multistate investigation into how it handles users, data, and harms tied to ChatGPT, days after disclosing that it had confidentially filed to go public.

New York Attorney General Letitia James subpoenaed OpenAI on Friday as part of an investigation by a coalition of state attorneys general. The reported records request covered OpenAI’s advertising, efforts to keep users engaged, model sycophancy, consumer and health data, and its treatment of minors and seniors.

The Journal reported that OpenAI had not identified which states were involved or specified which records were sought.

The inquiry came as OpenAI sought to move past a court victory over co-founder Elon Musk while continuing to fight other cases, including copyright lawsuits and claims tied to ChatGPT’s alleged role in user suicides.

In response to a Florida lawsuit announced last month, OpenAI said it was taking the matter seriously. A spokesperson said, “AI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a responsible way.”

OpenAI also said, “Today’s ChatGPT includes a more protective experience for minors and people experiencing difficult situations, with safeguards that direct them to real-world resources and trusted human contacts.”

ChatGPT has become widely used for work, school, and personal questions. Regulatory scrutiny of how OpenAI markets the product, keeps users engaged, and handles sensitive information could affect standards for users, including minors and older adults.

Cybercriminals compromised tens of thousands of Fortinet firewalls and virtual private networks used by companies worldwide, according to reports published this week by cybersecurity firms Hudson Rock and SOCRadar.

The campaign, dubbed FortiBleed, did not appear to rely on a previously unknown flaw in Fortinet devices. Instead, the firms said attackers scanned the internet for exposed Fortinet systems and used lists of previously known passwords to gain access.

“Once a device is compromised, [the hackers] use it as a listening post, monitoring traffic passing through and collecting any additional credentials that flow by. Those freshly collected passwords are then fed back into the scanner to compromise even more devices. The system feeds itself,” SOCRadar wrote.

Fortinet spokesperson Tiffany Curci told TechCrunch that the company “is aware of a reported third-party credential-harvesting campaign targeting Fortinet firewalls and VPN gateways.” Fortinet said its analysis indicated the data involved was “a resharing of data from previous incidents, as well as bruteforcing of credentials, and is not related to any recent incident or advisory.”

Hudson Rock said it found evidence suggesting more than 73,000 unique Fortinet URLs were compromised, while SOCRadar put the number at more than 30,000 devices.

According to Hudson Rock, affected companies included Accenture, Comcast, Foxconn, Lenovo, Oracle, Samsung, Siemens, and PwC. A Lenovo spokesperson acknowledged TechCrunch’s request for comment but did not respond. The other companies did not respond.

Both firms said the countries with the most affected devices were India, the United States, Taiwan, and Mexico, though victims were identified worldwide. Hudson Rock said the most affected industries were information technology services, construction materials, and telecommunications. SOCRadar said government agencies were also among the victims. Both firms said the group behind the campaign appeared to be Russian-speaking.

The reports were based on a discovered list of credentials for Fortinet devices and associated companies. Security researcher Bob Diachenko first reported the campaign over the weekend. Independent researcher Kevin Beaumont said in a Wednesday blog post that he analyzed the data and confirmed it “is legit.”