[3] Domscheit-Berg began working with WikiLeaks after meeting Assange at the Chaos Computer Club's annual conference in 2007.

[6] At a Chaos Computer Club (CCC) event in August 2011, he announced its preliminary launch and invited hackers to test the security of the OpenLeaks system.

[9] In September 2011, several news organizations cited Domscheit-Berg's split from Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as one of a series of events that led to the release that month of all 251,287 United States diplomatic cables in the Cablegate affair.

[4] During an online chat in August 2010, Julian Assange accused Domscheit-Berg of leaking information about the organization to Newsweek magazine.

[7][8][18][19] In Berg's book he criticizes Julian Assange's leadership style and handling of the Afghan War Diaries.

[7][8][10] WikiLeaks and other sources later alleged that Domscheit-Berg had destroyed over 3500 unpublished whistleblower communications with some communications containing hundreds of documents,[7][8][21][24] including the US government's No Fly List,[25] 5 GB of Bank of America leaks,[26] insider information from 20 neo-Nazi organizations[25][27] and evidence of torture and government abuse of a Latin American country.

[34] In August 2011, Domscheit-Berg announced a four day test launch and invited thousands of hackers to attack the OpenLeaks site and look for security flaws during the Chaos Communications Camp.

[40][41] At the event, WikiLeaks associate Jacob Appelbaum brought up rumors that OpenLeaks was connected to German intelligence.

Chaos Communication Camp board member, Andy Müller-Maguhn, said OpenLeaks did not provide source protection and lacked transparency.

[40] In September 2011, activist American author and security state critic Glenn Greenwald wrote that OpenLeaks had not produced any disclosures and was "cashing in on a vindictive, petty, personality-based vendetta against Assange and WikiLeaks ... and ... bolstering secrecy and destroying transparency, as Domscheit-Berg did when he permanently deleted thousands of files previously leaked to WikiLeaks, including documents relating to the Bank of America".

[43] On 23 December 2012 Domscheit-Berg announced on the website that the organisation would not go ahead as previously intended and would now focus on providing technology and expertise regarding how to receive documents from anonymous sources rather than directly facilitating leaks themselves.