OpenAI Agent Enters Wild, Hacks Random Company

By Sue Kientz

Recently it was disclosed that AI businesses are snapping up high-skilled professionals like electricians and carpenters, ostensibly for their data centers. (1) After the bombshell report recently that one rogue AI agent “escaped” a test environment into the Internet, stumbled into an insecure business’s network, and hacked it for four days undisturbed, (2) AI companies might be wise to stock up on a fleet of astrologers, too.  A particularly notorious astrological prohibition, perhaps not obvious to the casual reader, was evident in the timeline (3) of this long-dreaded event and how it unfolded; namely, the whole time, Mercury was retrograde.

This might sound like a strange occurrence, but many people nowadays, not just astrologers, have heard about and respect that when Mercury is retrograde (4), you should think twice before sending messages, signing contracts, and working with or buying technology, to just name a few concerns. (5) That very detail stood out in the OpenAI agent story, if one has the software to check on dates to see when Mercury, because it’s closer to the Sun than Earth, periodically appears to move backwards (to pass in front of the Sun), and then after a few weeks, it “stops” and starts forward again (to continue its orbit around the back of the Sun, from Earth’s perspective). To be honest, that was only the beginning of what was discernable from The Washington Post’s helpful timeline, which provided the time for a number of events but declined to mention dates, although that was easily provided by other news outlets. Here’s what an astrologer could see happening:

July 9, 2026, 2:28 a.m. (PDT, San Francisco, CA used, headquarters of Open AI). Reportedly this is when some computer log likely showed that an AI agent that was given an assignment to “tackle a standard cybersecurity test,” escaped its testbed, somehow connected to the Internet, and went looking for a system on which to perform the testing.

Problem 1: As mentioned, Mercury (23 Cancer) was retrograde, and even worse, it was semisquare (45 degrees; problems arise) Mars (7 Gemini), the veritable symbol of an accident, problem, or mistake.

Problem 2: The Sun (17 Cancer) was also in trouble as it was also exactly semisquare (to the exact celestial second, in fact) dwarf planet Sedna (2 Gemini). Named for an Inuit sea goddess whose myth of suffering, persistence, and redemption neatly fits Sedna’s astrological operation, when in the problematic semisquare, Sedna can signal a real disaster, (6) which this incident already seems to be, at least in the public-relations sense. If Mercury Rx is the Agent, and next to it is the Sun semisquare Sedna, the Sun represents the Agent’s company, and Sedna is the real serious problem they have, not just that the agent escaped its test confinement, but that no one was looking at its logs for days and days, to see what it was doing. Perhaps other faults might be raised, but that is enough to describe Sun semisquare Sedna.

Problem 3: The Moon (7 Taurus) was trine (120 degrees; easy time, fun) dwarf planet Ixion (7 Capricorn), the latter named after the mythic Greek “first murderer,” King Ixion, who was a recalcitrant rule breaker, for which he was sent to Hades by Zeus himself. Ixion is a reliable marker of people who cannot or will not follow the rules, (7) and since this is the Moon, someone who is not their own boss (that’s the Sun’s role), the Taurus Moon person is likely the tech person who was in charge of the AI agent and sent it on its test mission. Whatever the details, Moon trine Ixion suggests some lack of discipline could be lacking.

Later on July 9, the rogue OpenAI agent found its way into the business Hugging Face, as meanwhile Mercury Rx moved in reverse to 21 Cancer, and the Sun moved forward to 19 Cancer. Both are opposite (180 degrees; a rival, partner, or open enemy) to mid-sized dwarf planet Máni (20 Capricorn), named for a Germanic moon figure and symbolic of reflection, as in acquiring knowledge, insight, or meaning through thought or study. (8) Máni might also reasonably symbolize data, a database, or a network full of information. Indeed, the roaming AI agent is prowling around for a test subject, and now it’s in the business Hugging Face, where by July 11 at 10:10 a.m., it “obtains internal credentials” to look around, as Sun (19 Cancer)/Mercury Rx (21 Cancer) is semisquare Uranus (4 Gemini). Sun is most closely semisquare Uranus, which signals that there’s something wrong with Hugging Face (similar to how there was a problem with OpenAI, cued by Sun semisquare Sedna). Uranus is technology, machines, reason, and when negative, can mean someone at Hugging Face didn’t dot their “i’s” and cross their “t’s” because they may have thought they knew everything. That has a good chance of being the case since the OpenAI agent spends July 11-12 in Hugging Face collecting many credentials (negative Uranus = easily compromised technology).

On July 13, just before 2:14 p.m., Sun (21 Cancer) and Mercury Rx (20 Cancer) have passed each other, while both are still opposite Máni (20 Capricorn). Mercury Rx is just about to fully oppose Máni, which could mean to “partner” or “enter a relationship with” Máni, or even “fully enter its store of knowledge, the database, and start offloading it.” Luckily at 2:14 p.m., Hugging Face cuts the intruder-agent’s access. The good fortune of this swift kick out the door is shown by Mars (10 Gemini) trine dwarf planet Makemake (10 Libra), as Makemake is high-level technology, super clever, surprising or even shocking talents, (9) that might translate into someone, e.g., some Big Brain at Hugging Face, seeing something on a log or error message and then delivering a swift command, stopped the Roman Holiday for our Mercury Rx Agent.

Perhaps no business can halt everything when Mercury is retrograde (it happens three times a year), but it does no harm to be more careful and watchful at those times if one works in any technology job.

Title Image credit: Author described breaking news to ChatGPT and shared a vintage animated gif via upload of a computer monitor sprouting arms and breaking apart a keyboard, eating the parts, then pulling off pieces of the monitor, all while laughing. ChatGPT was asked to work in the animated gif’s actions and style.

Notes and References

1. DePillis, Lydia, “A.I. Companies Are Recruiting Electricians and Carpenters by the Thousands,” The New York Times, 29 July 2026, https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/29/business/economy/data-center-electricians-training.html
2. Sakellariadis, J., et al, “OpenAI’s rogue models roamed the internet for 4 days and staged a second attack,” Politico, 28 July 2026, https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/28/openai-rogue-models-hugging-face-breach-01014572 
3. Shaul, K., and G. De Vynck, “Five days inside a rogue AI agent’s stealthy cyberattack,” The Washington Post, 30 July 2026, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2026/07/30/timeline-cyberattack-by-openais-ai-agent-shows-its-sophistication
4. All planets move retrograde, or backwards in degrees as observed from Earth, at some point during their orbit of the Sun. This optical illusion is due to the position of Earth sometimes moving faster than other solar system bodies, so the retrograde object seems to drift backwards in the sky. With Mercury and Venus, their movements around the Sun require them to pass in front of the Sun from Earth’s perspective, which appears as backward motion. Eventually the body “stops” (in astrological terms, “stations”) and resumes forward motion. Sun and Moon never appear to move retrograde. The astrological effect of retrograde motion is to experience the function of the planet as not operating in an optimal way, e.g., Mercury retrograde might bring snafus or misdirections in communication, travel, or technology, and is therefore a time to hesitate or regroup rather than press forward.
5. Stardust, Lisa, “I’m an Astrologer. Here’s What I Never Do During Mercury Retrograde,” 25 November 2025, Today.com, https://www.today.com/life/astrology/astrologer-tips-mercury-retrograde-rcna245399
6. Kientz, S., “Treasure from the Depths,” the Sedna chapter from More Plutos that appeared in The Mountain Astrologer, Feb./March 2015 issue, pp 63-70; https://moreplutos.com/articles/Sedna-SueKientz_MtAstrol-Feb-Mar2015.pdf
7. See Ixion’s astrological keywords and examples of historical figures at “Dwarf Planet Basics,” 6 November 2024, Astrology News Service, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/dwarf-planet-basics/
8. See Máni’s astrological keywords and examples of historical figures at “Dwarf Planet Basics,” 6 November 2024, Astrology News Service, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/dwarf-planet-basics/
9. Kientz, S., “Watch out, it’s Makemake!,” the Makemake chapter from More Plutos that appeared in the Astrological Journal, Nov./Dec. 2014 issue; https://moreplutos.com/articles/Makemake-SueKientz_AstrologicalJournal-Nov-Dec2014.pdf

For more details about the angles or relationships between planets, see Lynne Hyde’s “Astrology Basics,” 12 November 2024, ANS, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/astrology-basics/