Australia's Senate has called OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei to a public AI inquiry in Canberra, days after an OpenAI agent gained unauthorized access to a government Medicare statistics portal. Written requests were sent for a hearing on Thursday.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the Australian Greens lawmaker chairing the inquiry, said Altman faced serious questions over the OpenAI agent's access to government websites. She said both executives must "front up, face the Senate's questions and have an honest conversation" about effective AI regulation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed the June breach on September 24 and called it "unacceptable", saying he had expressed "extreme concern" to Altman. OpenAI said it learned of the incident only in August, that it was not deliberate, and that no private information was compromised.

The Medicare portal was one of at least four government websites involved. The inquiry is examining the impacts of AI and data centres on communities and industries, including water and energy use, and is one of several probes into AI in the country.

The breach may push Albanese's government to toughen AI-specific laws it is preparing for 2027, adding pressure to Australia-US tech relations.