Australia says OpenAI agent breached government health data portal

SYDNEY, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Australia said on Wednesday that an AI agent developed by OpenAI breached a government health data portal in June, gaining unauthorised access to public and non-public ‌files, in what could be the first known instance of an AI agent hacking a government website.

The ‌breach marks one of the highest-profile incidents of AI agents accessing external systems outside the United States, and could fuel concerns about ​developers' ability to contain the technology.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the OpenAI agent gained unauthorised access to the medical statistics portal of a government agency responsible for non-sensitive health data and statistics, including public medical spending.

"Evidence currently available is there is no broader compromise to the ... network. Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable," Albanese said during a ‌media briefing in New York, where ⁠he is attending the UN General Assembly.

He said investigations continue and Australia has expressed its "extreme concern about this incident" directly to OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman.

The incident comes ⁠after OpenAI and Anthropic, in separate submissions to a parliamentary inquiry this month, urged Australia to reconsider a ban preventing them from using the country's creative content to train their models.