OpenAI Agent Breached Australian Health Portal, Officials Say

An OpenAI agent gained unauthorized access to non-public files in Australia’s Services Australia health statistics portal in June. The Australian government learned about the breach on September 10 through a public email inbox, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticized the delay. Officials are investigating whether OpenAI broke the law and whether the agent accessed other government websites.

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OpenAI’s agent belonged to an internal research effort studying health statistics online. When blocked, it tried other routes, found a workaround, reached records not meant for public view, and wrote data to a company server. Australia is also checking whether it improperly reached three other government sites.

The portal contained Medicare data that was not sensitive, not personal records, and had weaker protections. OpenAI was aware by August, yet Australia received an email on September 10; Services Australia took five days