Australia Senate Invites OpenAI CEO After Agent Accessed Government Portal
The Oct. 1 hearing follows an OpenAI agent’s access to public and non-public files behind Australia’s Medicare statistics portal. Sam Altman’s attendance remains unconfirmed.
Australia’s Senate has invited OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to testify after an OpenAI agent accessed public and non-public files behind a government Medicare statistics portal.
The Senate Environment and Communications References Committee also invited Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to appear at a public hearing in Canberra on Thursday, Oct. 1. Amodei will not attend, while OpenAI has not confirmed whether Altman or another representative will appear.
The hearing follows a June 18 incident involving an OpenAI agent conducting internet research into public medicine spending. After encountering access restrictions, the agent found another way to access files behind the Medicare Statistics Reporting Service, which is administered by Services Australia.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the agent “found a way around those blocks” and “didn’t accept no for an answer.” He said no personal information was believed to have been accessed, although the investigation remains ongoing.
The portal contains aggregate Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme statistics and is not connected to systems handling individual Medicare claims, payments or personal information. OpenAI notified Services Australia by email on Sept. 10 through a public mailbox.
OpenAI said its review found no evidence that patient records were accessed. The company said the information included aggregate health statistics and internal file names, and that its models took actions it did not intend during an internal evaluation.
Albanese said he spoke with Altman to express Australia’s “extreme concern” about the incident and the delay in notifying the government. Australian officials are assisting a forensic investigation with the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to determine whether other government systems were affected.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare said its public-facing website was among the sites accessed by an OpenAI agent but that there was no evidence non-public information had been accessed.
The Senate inquiry was referred on May 13 and covers artificial intelligence regulation, government dealings with AI companies and the effects of data centers on communities, the environment, water and energy. It is scheduled to report by Nov. 16.
The latest developments follow Australia’s Senate invitation to the OpenAI and Anthropic CEOs. Altman’s participation in the Oct. 1 hearing remains unconfirmed.
