Madhu Gottumukkala, acting director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has become the subject of an internal investigation after an unintentional leak of government materials. The top official, responsible for protecting federal networks from hackers, uploaded documents marked "for official use only" to the public version of OpenAI's chatbot. This was reported by Politico, writes UNN.
Details
The incident occurred after Gottumukkala received exclusive permission to use ChatGPT, which is officially blocked for other Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees. In August 2025, cybersecurity sensors recorded several automatic alerts about the transfer of confidential information outside the federal network. Although the files were not classified, they contained details of government contracts that are not subject to disclosure.
Any data entered into the public version of ChatGPT becomes the property of OpenAI and can be used to train the model or provide answers to other users. This creates a direct threat of strategic information leaking into the hands of foreign intelligence services, particularly China or Russia. Currently, high-ranking DHS officials, including chief lawyers and IT directors, are assessing the damage caused to national security.
Political implications and past scandals
CISA confirmed the use of the AI tool, but stated that it was "short-term and limited" within the framework of President Trump's executive order on government modernization. At the same time, anonymous sources in the agency claim that the head abused the privilege granted to him.
This is not the first incident involving Madhu Gottumukkala:
- Polygraph failure: it was previously reported that the official failed a lie detector test as part of a counterintelligence check.
- Personnel conflicts: last week, Gottumukkala tried to fire CISA's Chief Information Officer Robert Costello, who was involved in the investigation of the ChatGPT incident.
Despite criticism and calls for disciplinary action, Gottumukkala remains in office, as the appointment of a permanent head of the agency is currently blocked in the Senate.