OpenAI used AI to help write email warning Australian government AI had hacked its websites

OpenAI used AI to help write the email to the Australian government advising that its AI agent had hacked into key departmental websites, Guardian Australia can reveal.

On Tuesday, one of the company’s executives told a parliamentary inquiry that he didn’t believe that its own technology had been used to create the email, but said the company needed to confirm this.

Guardian Australia understands AI was used by OpenAI’s legal and security teams to generate parts of the wording of the email, including word selection and formatting of the message. But a source with knowledge of the incident said humans reviewed the final email, and humans were responsible for actually sending the communication to the Services Australia inbox.

OpenAI was contacted for comment.

An artificial intelligence agent developed by OpenAI accessed Services Australia data and three other systems in June. The company notified Australia on 10 September despite becoming aware of the incident in August.

The company’s first notification to Australia came in a five-paragraph email to a Services Australia inbox, publicdisclosures@servicesaustralia.gov.au, which was only checked once per day.

OpenAI has come under fire for not raising the issue in a more formal or direct way, including during a face-to-face meeting between the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, and Australia’s deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, on 1 September, nine days before the company emailed Services Australia but nearly a month after it first learned of the 18 June intrusion.