‘Do better for Australia': OpenAI apologizes for unauthorized access
OpenAI agents searched for health spending data, leading to Medicare breach
CANBERRA — OpenAI has apologized to Australia for unauthorized access to Medicare statistical data by its agents and its handling of the incident, promising to do better and rebuild trust with the Australian public.
OpenAI broke its silence about the June incident, which it described as artificial intelligence models accessing Australian government websites “in ways they were not authorized to do” during internal training and evaluation.
“We are sorry and working to do better in the future,” OpenAI said in a statement.
“This is a new kind of cyber incident which represents an emerging global challenge. One of the ways we intend to take accountability for the situation is to be intentional in working with Australia to help develop practical approaches to how AI developers and governments identify, disclose, and respond to AI cyber behavior, whether malicious or unintentional.”
Australia is a middle power in the middle of tension. Sitting on a quarter of the world's uranium and lithium, part way through a divisive energy transition, and at the start of its bigger defense investment — nuclear submarines — Australia is at the leading edge of many of the world's toughest power and policy debates. If you're tracking AUKUS, critical minerals, tech regulation, energy trade-offs, or the rise of nationalism, Canberra is no longer optional reading.
