OpenAI staffer baffled by Indian airport security: ‘Why check bags after X-ray?'

Hindustan Times

21 hours ago

An OpenAI employee, currently on a trip to India, has raised some pertinent questions about the security checks and procedures at Indian airports. In a now-viral X post, Will DePue asked why his bag needed to be checked manually after it had already been X-rayed. He pointed out that the multiple — and often needless — security checks hold up long queues of passengers and cause unnecessary delays. An American techie questions repeated security checks at Indian airports (X/@SparshAgarwall)
San Francisco-based DePue listed the many security checks that all passengers must undergo at any given airport in India.
'Indian airports make no sense'
'Indian airports make no sense,' the OpenAI employee wrote, before listing the security checks.
He said that a passenger cannot enter the airport without a passport and receipt check, a physical pat-down, and a metal scan. After walking into the airport, everyone is subjected to a pre-security boarding pass and passport check.
Before getting to the security checkpoint, the boarding pass and passport is checked again, said DePue. Then, everybody's carry-on bags are passed through an X-ray machine, while passengers themselves are 'patted down and wanded.'
Before passengers can board the plane, their boarding passes are checked again. At this point, one would think this is the end of all security checks – but no. DePue ranted that his bags were checked manually before he could enter the plane.
He questioned the logic of checking bags manually after they had just passed through an X-ray scanner. 'BUT I JUST GOT X RAYED. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO FIND NOW? there's a giant line of people waiting to get to the plane,' he wrote.
Who is Will DePue?
Will DePue is an OpenAI employee based in San Francisco. His LinkedIn profile lists him as a 'Member of the Technical Staff' at OpenAI, where he was a core contributor to Sora, the company's first text-to-video model.
DePue is part of a group trip to India curated specifically for techies and builders. The Discovery of India trip is meant to give curious techies a first-hand look at modern India and how its technology, policy, culture, and history come together to shape the future.