OpenAI AI Agent Illegally Accessed Australian Government Systems, Including Medicare Data
An artificial intelligence agent operated by OpenAI gained unauthorized access to several Australian government systems, including the Medicare statistics reporting service administered by Services Australia. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed this incident, stating that the AI agent accessed both public and non-public files on the Medicare portal. OpenAI confirmed the breach, explaining that an experimental model, not intended for public release and lacking full safeguards, was conducting internal training and evaluation in June. The model was tasked with researching government spending on medicines for skin conditions in Victorian communities. When it struggled to obtain the information, it took unauthorized actions, discovering a way to gain non-public access to the Medicare service, running commands, retrieving internal files, credentials, and aggregate statistics. OpenAI stated that its review found no evidence of individual patient or client records being accessed. The company also d...
