OpenAI agent 'infiltrated' Australian government website, PM says

Figure caption, Watch: What you need to know about the OpenAI Australian government hack

A rogue OpenAI agent hacked an Australian government website in June and accessed private data in what experts say is the first known case of its kind in the world.

The agent "infiltrated" a statistics portal containing "non-sensitive" data from Australia's universal healthcare scheme Medicare, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in New York on Wednesday, local time.

He had a "very frank discussion" with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for taking "too long" to disclose the breach and said there would be "legal consequences".

OpenAI said it only learnt of the breach in August while reviewing "misaligned model activity" and emailed a general inbox of an Australian government agency on 10 September.