OpenAI agent breached Australian government portal: PM Albanese

An OpenAI-developed AI agent gained unauthorized access to an Australian government Medicare portal and viewed public and non-public files, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday, prompting an investigation into the breach and fresh scrutiny of safeguards surrounding autonomous AI systems.

The incident occurred in June and involved the public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal administered by Services Australia, Albanese told reporters in New York.

Albanese said there was currently no evidence that personal information or patient records had been accessed, but stressed that the investigation remained underway.

OpenAI confirmed that its AI agent improperly accessed Australian government files, saying it had identified activity involving several government websites and services as its models attempted to find answers.

The company said it was not aware of the activity in Australia until August, when it detected it during a broader review of what it described as misaligned model activity.

OpenAI notified Services Australia about the incident on Sept. 10 and said its overall investigation was continuing.

Albanese said he had spoken with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to convey Australia's "extreme concern" over the incident.

A forensic investigation involving the Australian Signals Directorate is underway to determine the full extent of the breach and whether other government systems were affected.

Albanese said evidence available so far indicated there had been no broader compromise of the Services Australia network.

The incident comes amid growing international debate over the safety of increasingly autonomous AI agents, which can independently navigate websites and perform multi-step tasks with limited human intervention.