OpenAI apologises for Medicare portal hack, reaches NSW and Victorian systems

OpenAI has apologised to Australians after revealing its AI model accessed credentials and internal files from a Medicare portal, also reaching NSW and Victorian government systems. The company said an experimental model breached Services Australia’s Medicare Statistics Reporting Service in June, running commands and retrieving files, though no individual medical or crime records were accessed. OpenAI has blocked live internet access in research environments and paused training involving tool use. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed OpenAI’s constructive engagement with a government taskforce. The company will establish a taskforce with independent Australian experts and offer credits from its $1 billion cyber defence fund. OpenAI’s chief strategy officer will appear before a parliamentary committee on October 6.