OpenAI and Anthropic tell Australian MPs they would welcome mandatory AI breach-reporting laws
OpenAI and Anthropic told Australia's parliament on Tuesday they would welcome laws forcing them to report data breaches carried out by their AI agents, saying the decision to notify authorities is currently at their discretion.
SYDNEY — OpenAI and Anthropic told Australia’s parliament on Tuesday they would welcome laws requiring them to report data breaches carried out by their AI agents, acknowledging that the decision to notify authorities is currently at their discretion, Reuters reported.
“We would support a framework on mandatory disclosures,” OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon told the inquiry in Sydney. He said the company had been “trying to work through a process, trying to come up with a standard to apply” after one of its agents breached Australian government websites. “That is a function that a legal measure can provide. The representatives of society need to make more decisions so we are not making all these decisions.”
David Masters, Anthropic’s head of policy for Australia and New Zealand, said the company was also open to Australian laws requiring AI firms to disclose data breaches.
The comments follow an outcry after OpenAI took three months to tell the Australian government one of its agents had breached the country’s main health portal. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had not mentioned the Medicare breach when they met in early September; Kwon said Altman did not know of it at the time.
Both companies are awaiting clearance for large Australian data centres where they have agreed to be the main buyer of computing power, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government works on new AI laws.
The inquiry’s hearings run through October 9, with a final report due on November 30.
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