The acting head of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Indian-origin official Dr Madhu Gottumukkala, is facing scrutiny after reportedly uploading sensitive government documents to the public version of ChatGPT, triggering a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) review and internal security alerts. According to a Politico report, the files—related to government contracting and cybersecurity—were marked “For Official Use Only,” indicating they were sensitive and not intended for public dissemination.

Although the documents were not classified, the uploads triggered automated safeguards that flag inappropriate sharing of protected data outside federal systems. The incident occurred last summer after Gottumukkala had been granted special access to ChatGPT, while the tool remained blocked for most DHS employees—raising questions about data governance and the responsible use of AI tools in national security roles. DHS has not publicly disclosed the outcome of the review.