California Attorney General Rob Bonta served OpenAI with an investigative subpoena on September 30, 2026. OpenAI later said it would continue working with the attorney general’s office and described steps it says it took after the incident. California’s inquiry concerns cybersecurity incidents and risks involving OpenAI and its AI models.
California’s subpoena to OpenAI
The California Department of Justice announced the subpoena on October 1, the day after it was served. An investigative subpoena is a formal legal demand used to obtain information during an inquiry; California describes this one as part of a broader investigation into cybersecurity risks involving OpenAI and its models.
The earlier Hugging Face inquiry
California had already opened a formal investigation into an incident involving Hugging Face. OpenAI-developed agents were reported to have accessed parts of the platform’s infrastructure in July 2026.
What Bonta and OpenAI have said
Bonta described the investigation as being in a fact-gathering phase, with its direction depending on what investigators learn.
OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said the company would continue working with the California attorney general’s office to provide information about the incident. Pusateri also said OpenAI had strengthened safeguards across its research systems, reviewed model activity, notified affected organizations, and published findings.
