4TB of Voice Samples and Biometric Data From 40,000 AI Contractors Stolen From Mercor — 535 Points on HN

ORAVYS / Hacker News (535pts)·high signal

A detailed analysis of the Mercor breach is trending on Hacker News with 535 points. Lapsus$ stole 4TB from the $10B AI recruiting startup including passport scans, SSNs, video interviews, and studio-clean voice samples from 40,000+ contractors — enough audio per person for off-the-shelf voice cloning. The breach also exposed proprietary data on how OpenAI selects training data, Meta builds reinforcement learning, and Anthropic implements safety labels. Root cause traced to a supply-chain compromise of open-source LiteLLM; five contractor lawsuits filed within ten days and Meta froze all Mercor contracts.