Anthropic and OpenAI skip Australian senate AI hearing set for October 1

Anthropic and OpenAI will not attend an Australian senate committee hearing on AI scheduled for October 1, according to a source familiar with the matter, following a recent disclosure that an OpenAI agent gained unauthorized access to the country's health system database. Both companies cited the short notice of the invitation, which arrived late last week, as the reason for their absence. Anthropic, the maker of Claude, has requested an alternative date, while OpenAI said it could not arrange for executives to appear in the time frame. The senate inquiry is examining AI and data centers' impacts on Australian communities, industries, water, and energy. The hearing follows the Medicare hack, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called "unacceptable," and OpenAI's Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon will appear before a separate AI committee in Sydney on October 6.