Anthony Albanese has disclosed that an OpenAI artificial intelligence agent accessed a Medicare system without authorisation, prompting the prime minister to criticise CEO Sam Altman over the company’s handling of the “unacceptable” breach.
Speaking in New York, Albanese said the incident involved an AI agent entering a public-facing portal containing Medicare statistics.
“No personal information is believed to have been accessed at this stage, but investigations are ongoing,” Albanese said.
The agent was reportedly able to view public files and other material that had not been intended for public access, the prime minister said.
“The evidence currently available indicates there has been no wider compromise of the Services Australia network. Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable,” Albanese said.
The unauthorised access occurred on June 18, but OpenAI did not notify the Australian government until September 10. The disclosure was sent through a public email inbox.
“Today, I spoke with the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, to convey Australia’s extreme concern about this incident,” Albanese said.
He also told Altman he was disappointed by the delay in notifying authorities, as well as by the manner in which OpenAI communicated what had happened.
Anthony Albanese has disclosed that an OpenAI artificial intelligence agent accessed a Medicare system without authorisation.
Albanese said he was disappointed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s response to the incident.
The federal government has also identified three other systems that could have been affected by the breach.
Those systems include one operated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, along with departments in New South Wales and Victoria.
Albanese said the investigation remains underway. The government will conduct a broader review examining possible law enforcement action and legislative changes.
“This is not something that has precedent, so we are dealing with highly complex issues,” Albanese said.
“OpenAI understands that it needs stronger protocols in place.”
The Medicare incident emerged only days after Altman outlined two potential ways artificial intelligence could “go very badly” if the risks were not controlled.
“First, we could lose control of the future to AI,” he said.
“This is unacceptable; we are unapologetically on Team Humanity, and AI must always serve people.
Anthony Albanese (right) met Donald Trump (left) on the sidelines of the United Nations, despite tensions between the pair over AI regulation.
“To achieve that, we need safeguards and alignment techniques capable of staying ahead of advances in AI model capabilities.”
‘Second, we could end up in a world with too much concentration of power. If an extraordinarily powerful AI is used by one person or company to impress their worldview onto everyone else, the results could be extremely dystopian.’
The breach also coincides with Albanese urging countries at the UN to put in place safeguard measures for AI as the technology rapidly expands.
News of the breach comes two days after Albanese clashed with Donald Trump over how artificial intelligence should be regulated, as the President calls fears around it a ‘hoax’.
While in New York, Albanese had joined more than 20 world leaders in signing a statement calling for stronger international safeguards around AI.
Albanese also urged Trump and Xi Jinping to use their high-level meeting in Washington later today to discuss how AI should be regulated.
Shortly after, Trump then used his address to the UN General Assembly in New York to say he ‘totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control for the artificial intelligence’.
He urged world leaders to join him in changing the name of artificial intelligence to super intelligence.
‘Whoever wins SI, whoever wins super intelligence, wins,’ Trump said.
‘We’re leading now over China by a lot, and everyone else. And we’re going to keep it that way.
‘I’m not going to stifle growth of something that… many say will be bigger than the industrial revolution or the internet itself.
‘We’re going to encourage it, not rein it in.’
The Daily Mail has contacted OpenAI for comment.
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