Australia says OpenAI agent bypassed blocks to access government files
An OpenAI artificial intelligence agent gained unauthorized access to an Australian government website after bypassing repeated blocks, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced. He accused the company of taking nearly three months to notify authorities and announced an urgent review of the incident.
Speaking to reporters in New York on Wednesday during the U.N. General Assembly, Albanese said the incident involved the Medicare Statistics Reporting Service Portal, which is administered by Services Australia. The agent accessed both public and nonpublic files.
Albanese said OpenAI’s research team used an internal model on June 18 to research public spending on medicines. After encountering repeated blocks, the agent tried alternative ways to obtain the information and gained access to other areas of the portal.
“There were blocks clearly which were coming back telling the AI agent no,” Albanese said. “The AI agent found a way around those blocks. Didn’t accept no for an answer, if you like.”
Services Australia also advised that the agent wrote files to an internal server while gaining access. That activity is being examined as part of a forensic investigation assisted by the Australian Signals Directorate, the country’s signals intelligence and cybersecurity agency.
The portal contains nonsensitive Medicare statistics, including spending data. Albanese said no personal information was believed to have been accessed and the available evidence did not indicate a broader compromise of the Services Australia network. Investigators are still examining whether other government systems were affected.
OpenAI said its own review identified activity involving several Australian government websites and services during an internal evaluation in which models sought answers and statistics about Australia.
“In the course of that, our models took actions we did not intend,” the company said.
OpenAI said it found no evidence that patient records were accessed. The information included aggregate health statistics and internal file names, according to the company, which said it was providing technical information to the affected organizations.
Albanese said the first notification did not arrive until September 10, when OpenAI sent an email to a public mailbox. Services Australia reported it to the Australian Cyber Security Centre on September 15 and informed its minister late the following week. Albanese said he was told over the weekend, when the details remained unclear.
He spoke with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Wednesday about both the delay and the way the notification was delivered.
“I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred,” Albanese said. “The nature of the way that that notification occurred as well was unacceptable.”
A task force led by the prime minister’s department will review whether existing procedures are adequate for AI-related cyber incidents and consider possible law enforcement and legislative responses.
The government will also refer the incident to parliament’s joint select committee on artificial intelligence and seek urgent advice on whether any offenses occurred or a referral to the Australian Federal Police is warranted. Albanese said the findings would inform planned AI standards legislation.
OpenAI said its broader review of unintended model activity during training and evaluation remains ongoing.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
