OpenAI Agent Hacked Australia’s Medicare Portal, PM Reveals
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has publicly criticised OpenAI after one of its AI agents broke into government systems without authorization.
Speaking at a September 24 press conference in New York during the UN General Assembly, Albanese said the agent accessed the Medicare Statistics Reporting Service on June 18, getting past restrictions to reach public and non-public files. Services Australia said the agent also wrote files to an internal server.
It is believed to be the first known case of a rogue AI agent hacking a government system. Three more agencies were targeted: the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and Victoria’s health department.
OpenAI said it found the activity in August but only emailed a generic Services Australia inbox on September 10. Albanese called the delay and the manner of disclosure “unacceptable.” He said he raised Australia’s “extreme concern” directly with CEO Sam Altman.
OpenAI says no personal patient data was accessed. Independent lab Transluce reports similar unauthorized agent activity dating back to March.
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