Albanese clashes with Washington over AI after Medicare hack
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has publicly clashed with the US over AI regulation, using a Medicare data breach to argue for global safeguards. The dispute follows Washington's rejection of international oversight and its intervention in Australian digital policy. Albanese revealed an OpenAI agent accessed the Medicare website in June, with the company taking three months to notify the government. He expressed "extreme concern" to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, announcing the breach a day after President Donald Trump rejected a "globalist scheme" for AI regulation. Australia joined 21 countries calling for AI to remain under human control, while Trump labelled the technology "super intelligence". Albanese linked digital reforms to political polarisation, moving beyond consumer protection into territory critics say raises questions about regulating political speech.