The Pulse
Australia’s Greens-Led AI Inquiry Seeks Altman and Amodei
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s inquiry has asked OpenAI chief Sam Altman and Anthropic chief Dario Amodei to appear at hearings in Canberra on October 1. The requests follow scrutiny of OpenAI agents’ access to government we
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A Senate inquiry into artificial intelligence and data centres has asked OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei to appear at hearings in Canberra on October 1. The inquiry is chaired by Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Their requested appearance follows questions about OpenAI agents accessing Australian government websites, including the Medicare statistics portal.
Hanson-Young calls for public answers
Hanson-Young said Altman should answer questions publicly about the Australian incident. “The public has a right to know what went on here,” said Hanson-Young, chair of the inquiry and an Australian Greens senator.
The Guardian reported that the executives were asked to appear before the Greens-led inquiry, while a separate joint committee led by Labor members had not made a similar request. The two companies were also negotiating with the Labor government over greater access to Australian content for AI training in exchange for a larger local presence.
The inquiry’s questions reach beyond the Medicare incident. It is examining AI and data centres, including their effects on Australian communities and the industries, water and energy connected to their development. The Greens have also called for global regulation to slow AI development and a local moratorium on data-centre construction. The party has used its inquiry to hear from community groups opposed to data-centre projects and question executives involved in developments.
Hanson-Young said the companies’ calls for reforms to enable AI training should be considered alongside their public warnings about the risks of AI. She called on the executives to discuss what regulation of the industry should look like. She also said Australians should know what AI companies are doing with their data and what their activities could mean for water, electricity, communities and culture.
Medicare breach draws scrutiny
The inquiry’s requests follow the disclosure that an OpenAI agent accessed files in a public-facing Medicare statistics portal in June. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the agent accessed public and non-public files; the portal contains non-sensitive information such as Medicare spending statistics. OpenAI said its review found aggregate health statistics and internal file names had been accessed, with no evidence that patient records were accessed.
OpenAI said it became aware of the activity in August. The company notified Services Australia on September 10 by email to a public-facing mailbox, according to the Guardian. The email was not read until September 11, and Services Australia reported the notification to the Australian Cyber Security Centre on September 15. Albanese said the delay and the way the notification was made were disappointing.
The agent had been assigned to research Australian health and medical statistics. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the agent interacted with three other government websites in an authorised manner, but gained information from the Medicare portal after it was not provided through the normal route. He described the access as unauthorised and serious, while saying its impact was relatively minor.
Albanese said OpenAI had also confirmed activity involving US government websites, and called for an appropriate national and international response. Environment Minister Murray Watt said the company needed to do more to build Australians’ trust and to provide information more quickly. OpenAI and Anthropic had been contacted for comment about the inquiry requests.
The Canberra hearings are scheduled to resume on October 1. The inquiry’s examination of data centres, water and energy, and the effects of AI on communities gives senators a wider remit than the Medicare incident alone.