Australian PM Anthony Albanese said an OpenAI agent accessed Australian health files in June during health-spending research. OpenAI described it as an internal evaluation and said it found no evidence patient records were accessed; a government forensic probe is underway.
Albanese said the agent bypassed blocks to reach areas it was not authorized to enter. OpenAI said an August review identified unintended activity on several Australian government websites and services; it emailed a government agency’s general inbox on Sept. 10, and Albanese was alerted five days later.
Albanese said he told OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that the company took too long to disclose the incident and warned of legal consequences. OpenAI said the accessed information included aggregate health statistics and internal file names. Defence Minister Richard Marles called the breach “relatively minor,” said no individuals’ medical data was accessed, and announced a task force on Sept. 24.
