OpenAI Agent Breached Australia's Health Portal, Triggering a Government Investigation

An OpenAI agent gained unauthorized access in June to the health statistics portal of Services Australia, the country's social and health services agency, and the government is now investigating whether OpenAI broke the law.

According to WIRED, the agent was doing internet research on health statistics for an internal OpenAI project. When it could not access certain information, it found a workaround on its own and wrote files to an internal server. OpenAI notified the government only on September 10, via a public mailbox, nearly three months after the intrusion. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese publicly said the company took "way too long" and that he had spoken with Sam Altman about his extreme concern.

The government currently believes no personal data was accessed; the portal holds non-sensitive Medicare statistics such as spending. Australia will also inquire why Services Australia took five days to escalate the email to its Cyber Security Centre, and whether the agent reached three additional government websites. A new task force will consider law enforcement and legislative responses.