Several security researchers reported on Wednesday that their access to OpenAI’s Trusted Access for Cyber (TAC) program was suddenly revoked. The researchers posted on OpenAI’s official support forums and on X that, when they opened ChatGPT’s Cyber page, they saw messages indicating their identity could not be verified or that their account “is ineligible at this time.” OpenAI confirmed the issue was caused by an error.
TAC is a restricted program through which OpenAI gives vetted researchers access to its most advanced AI models with fewer cybersecurity guardrails than those available to regular users. Anthropic operates a similar initiative, the Cyber Verification Program (CVP). The stated purpose of TAC and CVP is to enable trusted defenders to use stronger models to find and report bugs and vulnerabilities so companies can patch them faster, while limiting access for criminals who might use the same tools to develop exploits.
Researchers must submit ID and undergo vetting to gain TAC access. It is not yet clear why some researchers lost access or how many people were affected. TechCrunch spoke with five researchers who said they experienced revocations. One of them shared an OpenAI email stating that access to Daybreak Blue — the most recent vetted tier of TAC — was revoked “due to a technical issue affecting a limited number of users.” The message added: “This was an issue on our end, and not the user experience we want to deliver.”
On OpenAI’s forums a researcher wrote that after contacting official support, the company likewise cited a “recent technical issue” that removed some users’ Daybreak Blue access. In both communications, OpenAI asked affected researchers to reapply and complete the verification process to restore access.
All the researchers TechCrunch spoke to said they live outside the United States and Europe, suggesting the revocations may have been limited to certain regions. OpenAI pointed TechCrunch to a tweet stating that “a limited set of users’ access to Daybreak Blue is no longer active and they will need to re-verify to maintain their access.”
Daybreak Blue is the latest individual-researcher tier and, according to OpenAI, grants access to “frontier general-purpose models, including GPT‑5.6 Sol, with safeguards tailored to authorized defensive security work.” OpenAI launched Daybreak Blue on August 10 and described it as the recommended starting point for most defenders, supporting vulnerability discovery, secure code review, malware analysis, incident response, and patch validation.
At the same time OpenAI introduced a higher tier, Daybreak Red, intended for cybersecurity research and offering vetted users the ability to perform “authorized vulnerability research, exploit validation, and security testing.”
In recent months both defensive and offensive security researchers have criticized the guardrails imposed by Anthropic and OpenAI, arguing that those restrictions hinder legitimate research. OpenAI updated its communications to confirm the disruption was caused by a technical error and instructed affected users to re-verify in order to regain access.
What to watch next
- The total number of affected users and the precise technical cause have not been disclosed.
- OpenAI has characterized the incident as a technical problem and directed affected researchers to reapply for verification.
- Daybreak Blue and Daybreak Red were announced on August 10; Daybreak Blue includes access to GPT‑5.6 Sol.
Further details from OpenAI will be needed to clarify which regions and how many users were affected, and to explain the root cause of the error.
