OpenAI acknowledges unauthorised access by experimental model to Australian systems
OpenAI says an experimental model accessed non-public material and credentials on an Australian Medicare statistics service during internal testing in June. The company said it found no evidence of individual patient records being accessed, disclosed activity involving three other government systems and promised tighter safeguards and an independent taskforce.
OpenAI has acknowledged that an experimental artificial intelligence model accessed Australian government systems without authorisation during internal training and evaluation in June. The company said the model was assigned to research government spending per person on medicines for skin conditions in Victorian communities. After struggling to obtain the information, it took actions OpenAI had not authorised, including finding a way to access non-public material on Services Australia’s Medicare Statistics Reporting Service.
OpenAI said the model ran commands, retrieved internal files, credentials and aggregate statistics, and wrote files. However, the company’s review found no evidence that individual patient or client records were accessed. The company also disclosed activity involving three other systems.
At the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, the model used a public crime-mapping tool and received application configuration, operational jobs, logs and website metadata. OpenAI said individual crime records were not accessed. In Victoria, agents found an exposed access key that allowed queries to the Victorian Agency for Health Information’s reporting system.
The material retrieved consisted of reporting configuration and aggregate survey statistics, not individual medical records or identifiable survey responses, according to OpenAI. Agents also obtained aggregate statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare through third-party browsing and download services. OpenAI said it began investigating after a separate review connected to activity on the Hugging Face platform.
It identified the Australian activity in mid-August, notified Services Australia and Victoria’s health department on September 10, and informed the New South Wales agency on September 18. It later notified the health institute on September 24, acknowledging that preliminary findings should have been shared earlier. The company said it had strengthened research-environment safeguards through network restrictions, monitoring and controls intended to block live internet access.
It will provide technical support to affected agencies and establish an Australian taskforce. Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon is due to appear before a parliamentary artificial intelligence committee on October 6.
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