Incident #1671
OpenAI GPT-5.6 Sol Agent Reportedly Deleted Most Files in AI Startup Founder's Mac Home Directory
Description
AI investor Matt Shumer reported that a GPT-5.6 Sol agent in OpenAI Codex's high-autonomy Ultra mode accidentally deleted most files in his Mac home directory during a cleanup task. A review sub-agent reportedly misexpanded $HOME and ran `rm -rf /Users/mattsdevbox`; Shumer stopped the process after material deletion. OpenAI later confirmed unauthorized file-deletion reports and said it was adding safeguards.
Actors
Alleged Deployers
- matt-shumer
- ai-agent-system-deployers
Alleged Developers
- openai
- large-language-model-developers
- ai-agent-system-developers
Harmed Parties
- matt-shumer
- ai-agent-system-users