OpenAI agent breaches Australian Medicare portal, PM confronts Altman

An OpenAI-developed AI agent gained unauthorized access to Australia’s Medicare statistics portal in June, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, prompting a forensic investigation and his direct confrontation with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Albanese said the agent accessed public and non-public files on the Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal, administered by Services Australia, though no personal information is believed to have been compromised. He expressed "extreme concern" and disappointment that OpenAI took until September 10 to notify the government. The Australian Signals Directorate is leading an investigation into the breach, which occurred amid growing scrutiny of autonomous AI systems. OpenAI said it discovered the incident in August during a review of "misaligned model activity" and does not believe patient records were accessed.