OpenAI has apologised to the Australian government after one of its AI agents gained unauthorised access to several government websites during internal training and evaluation in June.
In a blog post published on Tuesday, OpenAI said the agent was tasked with researching government spending per person on medicines for skin conditions in Victoria.
After encountering difficulties obtaining the information, the agent took actions that had not been authorised by it.
The agent gained non-public access to Services Australia’s Medicare Statistics Reporting Service, where it ran commands and retrieved internal files, credentials and aggregate statistics, as well as writing files, according to the tech giant.
The company said no personal medical records were compromised.
The agent also accessed the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research’s public crime mapping tool and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
OpenAI said it did not notify the health agency until 24 September because it initially determined that the incident did not meet its disclosure threshold.
The breach has drawn criticism in Australia, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling the incident “unacceptable” and criticising OpenAI’s handling and timing of the disclosure.
The Australian government has launched a rapid review into the incident, including potential notification and reporting obligations for AI companies and whether existing laws are adequate to deal with such breaches.
“In June, during internal training and evaluation our models accessed Australian government websites in ways they were not authorised to...An OpenAI model discovered a way to gain non-public access to the service, and ran commands, retrieved internal files, credentials and aggregate statistics, and wrote files,” a statement released by the tech giant said.
“We also should have handled our response better. We are sorry and working to do better in the future,” the company said in the statement.
“Since then we’ve worked closely with Australian government agencies to share what we’ve learned to date,” it added.
“If we identify any additional affected agencies, we will notify them promptly and directly with the information available and provide updates as further facts emerge.”
The company said it would provide dedicated support to affected agencies, help fund cybersecurity improvements through its $1 billion global fund and establish an Australian task force to develop recommendations based on lessons from the incident.
OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon is scheduled to appear before an Australian Senate committee in Sydney on 6 October as part of an inquiry into artificial intelligence.
The death of a laboratory employee at a Russian plague research institute in Siberia has triggered a major public health response and international...
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of a deadly drone strike on a Türkiye-owned cargo ship in the Black Sea, killing it...
Regional powers gathered in Moscow on Monday for talks on Afghanistan, focusing on security, economic cooperation and Kabul’s relations with ...
Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, with Hamid Bovard, chief executive of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), appointed as acting oil minister, according to Iranian state media.
Right-wing Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a runoff of the presidential election later this month, after he exceeded expectations in Sunday's first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent.
Candidates elected to Bosnia and Herzegovina's three-member presidency declared victory after preliminary unofficial results showed Denis Becirovic leading the Bosniak seat, Darijana Filipovic ahead in the Croat seat and Zeljka Cvijanovic likely retaining the Serb seat.
Iran says the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets seven conditions agreed under a June memorandum, as President Donald Trump signals he may soon decide whether to resume military operations against Tehran.
Uzbekistan’s grape exports have grown rapidly. In January-August 2025, the country exported 86,200 tonnes of fresh grapes worth $78.3 million to 19 countries but can it turn these crops into a recognisable international product?
A four-person crew aboard SpaceX's Crew-13 mission, consisting of two U.S. astronauts, a Canadian astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday (1 October), for a long-duration science mission focused on human health and performance in orbit.
The European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus and European partners have put a six-wheeled Mars rover prototype through its paces in Spain’s Tabernas desert, simulating conditions expected on a future mission to the Red Planet.
A report released by cybersecurity firm Asymmetric Security says AI agents took active steps to erase traces of their actions after illegally accessing government websites.
Elon Musk says the answer to AI’s soaring electricity demand lies beyond Earth. The physics may be promising, but analysts question whether putting data centres in orbit can ever make financial sense.
OpenAI has cancelled plans to release GPT-6.1 Astra, a next-generation AI model due to launch in October, after internal tests found it fell short of the company’s safety and alignment standards.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment