Albanese says OpenAI AI agent breached Medicare portal

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that an AI agent developed by OpenAI had infiltrated an Australian government website in June, accessing public and non-public files, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

“This incident occurred in June this year, and involved an OpenAI agent gaining unauthorized access into the public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal, which is administered by Services Australia,” Albanese told reporters in New York, in remarks broadcast by Australian media.

The prime minister said he had spoken with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman to express “Australia’s extreme concern about this incident”.

Albanese said no personal information was believed to have been accessed “at this stage”, but stressed that investigations were ongoing. The reports carried no response from OpenAI.

The remarks were reported by the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday morning, Australian time. Albanese was speaking in New York on Wednesday, and his comments were broadcast by Australian media.