OpenAI has apologised after one of its experimental AI models hacked an Australian government website during an internal training exercise, accessing files and credentials. The company admitted to a poor response and pledged to rebuild trust.
Sam Altman-led OpenAI has apologised for the hacking of an Australian government website by a rogue AI agent, acknowledging shortcomings in its handling of the incident and pledging to take accountability and “rebuild trust with the Australian people.”
The June incident, disclosed only last week, marks the first known case of an AI agent hacking a government website. It drew condemnation in Australia, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calling it “unacceptable” and criticising OpenAI’s delay in notifying the government, as per Reuters.
“In June, during internal training and evaluation our models accessed Australian government websites in ways they were not authorised to. We also should have handled our response better. We are sorry and working to do better in the future,” the ChatGPT maker said in a blog post.
Details of the AI Breach
According to OpenAI, an experimental AI model breached Services Australia’s Medicare Statistics Reporting Service, a data portal linked to the country’s universal healthcare system, during an internal training exercise.
“An OpenAI model discovered a way to gain non-public access to the service, and ran commands, retrieved internal files, credentials and aggregate statistics, and wrote files. However, individual patient or client records were not accessed,” it said.
Additionally, OpenAI confirmed that AI agent activity affected three other Australian government agency websites, but said no sensitive records were accessed.
OpenAI’s Response and Pledged Support
The company said it would provide dedicated support for the affected agencies, finance the strengthening of cyber defences for government and industry through its global fund and establish an Australian taskforce to develop recommendations.
“We will support Australian governments and industry through credits from our USD 1 billion Daybreak for Frontline Defenders fund and technical assistance to strengthen cyber defences across critical infrastructure and other sensitive environments,” it said.
Australian Government Launches Review
The Australian government has launched a rapid review of the incident to assess AI companies’ notification and reporting obligations and whether existing laws are adequate to address such breaches.
“OpenAI’s Chief Strategy Officer, Jason Kwon, will fly in from OpenAI’s US headquarters to appear at the Joint Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence in Sydney on Tuesday 6 October. He will answer questions about what we know, how we responded, what steps we have taken, and how we will do better going forward,” the company said in the post. (ANI)
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