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    Wikipedia operator says OpenAI's rogue agents 'tied to data service disruption' in May

    Saba Qamar•October 6, 2026• 1 min read
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    Wikipedia operator says OpenAI's rogue agents 'tied to data service disruption' in May
    National CoverageAman-e-Pakistan Digital Desk
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    “The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates online ​encyclopedia Wikipedia, said heavy traffic from OpenAI's ‌rogue agents was possibly tied to a disruption that its data service experienced in May. In a …”

    In a blog post on ​Monday, Wikimedia said it could confirm "that we ​have discovered some activity by these 'rogue' OpenAI agents ⁠on Wikimedia platforms," including a May incident ​that resulted in a "partial outage" of its Wikidata Query ​Service.

    Wikimedia said the disruption seemed to have been triggered as the agents visited millions of pages and made hundreds of ​thousands of data queries. Wikimedia also said the ​OpenAI agents made unauthorized edits to Wikimedia wiki sites, including "potentially malicious ‌edits" ⁠to a citation tool, which the foundation said were likely intended to hijack it.

    Wikimedia said its Etherpad note-taking tool was also hit by malicious ​activity from OpenAI's ​agents. OpenAI said ⁠in a statement that it appreciated Wikimedia's "detailed findings" and was working with ​the organization to analyze the activity.

    Key Story Takeaway

    "Stay connected with Aman-e-Pakistan for ongoing live reporting and verified investigative updates."

    "We’ll continue ​to ⁠share relevant information as that work progresses," OpenAI spokesperson Drew Pusateri said. OpenAI has been scrambling to get ⁠its ​arms around the full scope ​of its rogue agent activity, Reuters has previously reported.

    S

    Written by Saba Qamar

    Aman-e-Pakistan Senior Journalist & Bureau Reporter

    Fact Checked & Verified

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