A worker at the US Department of Energy (DOE) recently lost his security clearance after uploading a staggering 187,000 p*rn images to his work laptop.
The department discovered this when they were alerted to an unusually large backup on their government network, which led them to investigate the employee’s actions.
The individual explained that he had uploaded the images to experiment with AI tools. This incident took place in March 2023, resulting in the revocation of his access to sensitive materials, including nuclear information. In 2024, an Administrative Judge ruled that he would not regain access to the network.
The employee’s intention was to use his extensive collection of images, gathered over three decades, as training data for an AI image generator.
According to a report by the DOE, he claimed that during a period of depression, he turned to these AI tools as a way to cope with feelings of extreme isolation and loneliness. The report also noted that he explored the concept of “robot p*rnography.”
Following the incident, the DOE conducted an evaluation with a psychologist contracted by the agency. The psychologist found that the employee was experiencing a significant depressive episode that severely affected his judgment and ability to follow rules and policies.
During the hearing, the employee provided documentation to support his claims of mental health struggles.
He argued that a change in his medication would help him avoid similar issues in the future and assured the panel that he had taken steps to prevent storing personal files on the DOE network again.
However, the psychologist concluded that the employee’s chances of avoiding future episodes that could impair his judgment were only fair.
The DOE report indicated that he did not present enough evidence to alleviate the security concerns related to his misuse of technology.
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