OpenAI agent hacked Australian government website, PM says

Cachella Smith
Live reporter

Image source, EPA

As discussions took place at the UN General Assembly in New York about the opportunities AI provides - and how best to manage it - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed that the country's universal health insurance scheme had been hacked by an OpenAI agent.

In fact, the hack happened in June, the company became aware of it in August, and then sent an email to a government agency's general inbox in September.

"It took the company way too long to inform the government," Albanese said, adding that the method of notifying officials was also "unacceptable".

Believed to be the first known breach of a government system by rogue AI agents, the hack accessed Medicare's statistics portal which contains private, but not sensitive, data.

Our cyber correspondent, Joe Tidy, writes that experts believe the systems were poorly protected - but more important is that this is not the first instance of AI agents ignoring laws on accessing online information.

Tech reporter Tom Gerken explains AI itself has no true understanding of what it is being asked - while tech editor Zoe Kleinman asks if AI is in its "move fast and break things" era.

The Australian government has launched an review of AI laws and governance - but this is a global issue.

AI might have dominated discussions at Unga this week, but a consensus among world leaders on how best to harness opportunities while tackling the risks still feels a way off.

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