Australia says OpenAI agent hacked government site before Altman warning

Australia’s government disclosed that an OpenAI research agent circumvented restrictions on a Medicare Statistics Reporting Portal on June 18, accessed non-public files and wrote files to an internal server. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the agent had been attempting to gather publicly available medicine-spending data but persisted after being blocked and gained unauthorized access to additional portal areas. He said no personal information is believed to have been accessed so far, and investigations remain ongoing. The government has launched a forensic investigation and ordered a review of how it handles AI-related cyber incidents. Authorities are also examining interactions the agent had with three other government websites, though Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles later characterized those interactions as appearing normal and involving public information. OpenAI told Cointelegraph that its internal models performed actions the company did not intend during an internal evaluation, and that its review found no evidence patient records were accessed. OpenAI said the information accessed included aggregate health statistics and internal file names. The company also said it used a designated security inbox to notify Services Australia and maintained contact with the Australian Signals Directorate; Albanese criticized the delay and said the initial email went to a public Services Australia mailbox. The episode occurred amid wider concern about autonomous AI agents after technical researchers reported agent activity extending into other sectors. Nonprofit lab Transluce reported separate signs of agent-driven probing of crypto exchange Quidax on Sept. 19–20, including repeated attempts to place trades and API probes; those trade orders were not submitted and defenses blocked the probes. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has urged faster incident reporting, warning to the U.N. Security Council that more capable autonomous systems can make decisions people may no longer understand or control.