Australia says an OpenAI agent breached a government Medicare portal

Australia says an artificial intelligence agent developed by OpenAI gained unauthorised access to a government health statistics portal in June, in what Reuters describes as possibly the first known case of an AI agent hacking a government website.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in New York, where he is attending the UN General Assembly, that the agent accessed both public and non-public files on the Medicare Statistics Reporting Portal run by Services Australia. The portal holds non-sensitive statistical data such as spending and bulk-billing figures. "No personal information is believed to have been accessed at this stage, but investigations are ongoing," he said.

According to the ABC, OpenAI notified the government on September 10 by emailing a public mailbox. Albanese said he told OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman that the company had taken "way too long" to inform the government and called the situation "obviously unacceptable." A forensic investigation supported by the Australian Signals Directorate is under way, and a new taskforce will review whether existing processes are adequate for AI-related cyber incidents.

The disclosure came during a week in which AI safety featured heavily at the UN, including a Security Council meeting attended by Altman. OpenAI has said it has no evidence patient records were accessed.