OpenAI agent hacked Australian government website, PM says

Attempted hacks are stopped 'every single day', UK minister sayspublished at 09:24 BST

Image source, EPA

Education Secretary Lucy Powell tells BBC Radio 5 Live that systems have to be "watertight" as hacking attempts are stopped "every single day" - which the public doesn't hear about.

"Cybersecurity and protecting our government systems from cyber attacks is a massive part of government security, and it’s something we all deal with every day," she says this morning.

"So we have to make sure that our systems are watertight, and obviously the development of AI is a concern because the way in which it’s able to quickly kind of evolve and learn is presenting new challenges.”

How is the world dealing with artificial - or 'super' - intelligence?published at 09:17 BST

This week, artificial intelligence (AI) has been a hot topic for discussion at the UN General Assembly in New York.

Just yesterday, the heads of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Hugging Face told the UN that the current pace of AI development demands international co-ordination.

It follows warnings in recent weeks over the potential for AI to pose a threat to humanity. But how world leaders propose to manage the technology differs.

US President Donald Trump told Unga this week "we're going to encourage it, not rein it in" - he also said the US would rename it "super intelligence".

China's foreign ministry has similarly criticised "narratives of threat".

In UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's speech yesterday, he described it as "one of the most significant challenges and opportunities of our age", adding we must "heed" warnings but also "rise to this moment".

And on Tuesday, the Dutch government posted a joint statement signed by a number of countries including Australia and the European Commission stressing that AI "must remain under human direction".

No 'plausible explanation' to call for kill switch for AI, Nick Clegg sayspublished at 08:54 BST

We can bring you more now from Nick Clegg - former UK deputy prime minister and Meta executive - who has been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Asked whether concerns about uncontrolled AI development might be combated by a so-called kill switch, Clegg says he hasn't seen any "plausible explanation" for this.

"There isn't a room with a fuse box where you just pull out a fuse and everything just winds down," he explains.

Instead, he says that there is "a lot that can be done" both voluntarily and through regulation to enforce greater transparency in how AI models are built and how they operate.

AI, agents, tokens - key terms to knowpublished at 08:43 BST

Focus on the known risks, not fears of 'god-like' power by AI, Nick Clegg tells BBCpublished at 08:33 BST

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Former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tells the BBC there are "serious enough" known risks that are "enough to be getting on with" regarding AI.

"That's what we should be focusing on," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme, listing risks such as bio weapons and cyber security hacks.

He draws a distinction between those "known impacts" of AI and indulging in the view that the tech is going to "unavoidably develop some god-like power which is going to turn on us".

These fears are a "misdescription of what this technology is capable of and not capable of" he says, adding it "paralyses political debate".

As a reminder, Clegg joined Meta as head of global affairs in 2018 after leaving politics following a stint as deputy prime minister. He left his role at Meta in January.

We'll bring you more from his interview with the BBC shortly.

Nick Clegg speaking to BBC's Today programme about AI - watch livepublished at 08:17 BST

The former deputy PM of the UK, who later worked at Facebook owner Meta, is speaking now. We'll bring you key lines from what he says.

Watch him live at the top of the page.

OpenAI access 'does raise questions about whether the law has been broken' - deputy PMpublished at 08:02 BST

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The Australian government says the task force it is establishing to review what happened will explore "what the consequences are if there has been a breach of law".

"It is utterly unacceptable," deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who is also defence minister, tells reporters in Sydney.

He says it is clear there has been "unintended" access by the OpenAI model, which "definitely does raise questions about whether the law has been broken in respect of this".

He says that the task force will look into whether the law has been broken.

It will also examine "whether or not the legal regime we have in place is fit for purpose in a world where we have an emerging AI capability," he adds.

A recap of the OpenAI agent hack of an Australia government portalpublished at 07:45 BST

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us, here's what we have been reporting since Australia announced that an autonomous OpenAI agent had hacked into a government website:

• Australia's PM Anthony Albanese said on Thursday that the AI agent "infiltrated" a statistics portal containing private data from Australia's universal healthcare scheme. He alluded to "three other systems that may be impacted" but did not elaborate
• The breach happened in June but Open AI only became aware of it in August. It notified the government via an email, external to a general inbox on 10 September
• OpenAI says it found no record of patient data being accessed, but Albanese says he told OpenAI CEO Sam Altman the company took "way too long" to inform Canberra of the breach
• In response to the hack, Australia has launched a rapid review to examine whether existing legislation is sufficient in dealing with AI
• This is believed to be one of the world's first known AI-led hacks of a government website. It comes as world leaders and AI firms themselves call for regulation amid fears the industry's development is speeding out of control

Hack sounds alarm bells for leaders everywherepublished at 07:31 BST

Lily Jamali
North America Technology Correspondent

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is calling this breach unacceptable, saying OpenAI took way too long to alert authorities.

OpenAI for its part says they came across this incident as part of an ongoing review. I think they are trying to project that they are doing their due diligence, but it really just adds fuel to the fire as we are having this debate about AI safety, concerns about AI agents and chatbots going rogue.

It is a very sensitive time to be learning about this and while it is obviously not the first time - as far as we know it is the first AI-agent-led hack of a government system reported anywhere in the world.

Cyber-security professionals are saying this should raise alarm bells for leaders everywhere.

AI dominates UN agendapublished at 07:10 BST

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AI has been one of the dominant issues at this week's UN General Assembly in New York, after a series of alarming warnings from tech industry insiders.

"If we don't slow down at the current rate of progress, there is a strong chance that we could all die in the immediate future," AI researcher Jacob Coxon, who left Anthropic, told the BBC earlier this month.

His former boss, Dario Amodei, and the leaders of two rival AI firms - Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk - have all said they agree the speed at which AI is developing needs to be reined in.

And 20 nations, including Australia and Canada, this week signed a joint statement calling for better safeguards, globally consistent standards, and an international regulator off the back of these concerns.

But the US and China, who are vying for AI supremacy, are roadblocks. Both are hostile to greater regulation, wanting the economic and technological spoils of AI, and have downplayed safety concerns.

Australia launches urgent review of AI laws and governancepublished at 06:52 BST

The Australian government has launched a rapid review into how it deals with AI in response to the Medicare hack.

The review will examine whether existing legislation and governance are "fit for purpose to prepare for and respond to cyber incidents involving AI", according to a government statement.

Led by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the review will also look into information-sharing arrangements with AI firms and other Commonwealth countries.

Its findings will "inform the Australian government's broader work on AI governance", the statement said.

OpenAI revealed six incidents last weekpublished at 06:36 BST

Peter Hoskins
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Just last week, OpenAI published a set of reports detailing six incidents of unexpected or concerning behaviour by its AI models.

It also announced a plan for tracking and disclosing such incidents in the future.

The blog post detailed incidents it says were discovered between April and August.

But it doesn't seem to mention this incident, which OpenAI said today came to its attention in August.

The BBC has contacted the company for comment.

US rejects pleas from OpenAI, Anthropic for global AI standardspublished at 06:19 BST

The US has rejected the idea of international standards for the AI industry, following calls by major players for a set of common risk evaluation guidelines.

While acknowledging the risks presented by the technology, a key technology advisor to US President Donald Trump has said they are not reason enough "to pause development or constrain it with new global governance structures".

"International dialogue in this forum and others cannot be allowed to drift toward global governance," the advisor, Michael Kratsios, told the UN Security Council.

Trump himself told the UN on Tuesday that he "rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control" AI.

“We’re leading now [in AI innovation] over China by a lot and everyone else, and we’re going to keep it that way," said the US president, who also said he wanted to rebrand it "super intelligence".

'We want big tech to take accountability' - ministerpublished at 05:56 BST

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Speaking to reporters in Brisbane, communications minister Anika Wells says the recent OpenAI agent hack is an example where "big tech clearly feels like they can do whatever they like".

"We want big tech to take accountability. We want an unregulated industry to implement some basic safety standards here on Australian shores, and that’s what I’ll be trying to do when I introduce the digital duty of care in October."

Wells helmed a world-leading social media ban for under-16s last year - a move closely watched by governments around the world as authorities struggle to curb the negative impacts of social media.

The digital duty of care laws she is now trying to push through would make it mandatory for tech firms like Meta, Google and TikTok to offer users the option to turn off algorithms.

But the proposed laws were criticised by the US as amounting to "censorship".

Trump resisting calls from US firms for greater regulationpublished at 05:28 BST

It's somewhat rare for a lucrative industry to call for greater regulation - but that is what tech firms in the US, like OpenAI and Anthropic, have been asking the globe to do.

But US President Donald Trump has criticised calls for better safeguards and called concerns about the fate of humanity a hoax.

In a series of social media posts earlier this month, the US president compared warnings about AI to the "Global Warming Scam", called himself "the Hoax Buster", and said the only "guardrails" needed for AI were a "strong and smart" president.

In another post he wrote: "There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!"

Image source, Getty Images

Sam Altman urges governments to help make AI 'democratic'published at 05:24 BST

Image source, Anadolu via Getty Images

News of the OpenAI agent hack into the Medicare portal comes as its CEO, Sam Altman, addressed the UN security council in New York this week.

He called for international standards for the AI industry, and for governments to play a role in making AI "democratic".

“We have a choice in front of us,” Altman told the council. “AI can either be more like a new renaissance of creativity and discovery, or more like a new industrial revolution of upheaval and disarray.”

Dario Amodei of Anthropic also addressed the council via a video call, urging international cooperation on AI, without which he warned AI could turn into a "risk to humanity".

What is an AI agent?published at 05:08 BST

Osmond Chia
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It is an autonomous computer program that uses AI to complete a task with minimal human oversight.

That's unlike a standard chatbot that answers a question in a single step. Instead, an agent operates in a cycle by understanding the task and taking action, such as by running a code or working with an app to achieve a goal.

Companies like Anthropic, OpenAI and Meta have all released agentic models.

Developers have been programming agents to do all sorts of tasks, like to order items online or schedule appointments.

But in some cases, it is unclear how an agent might achieve its goal, raising cyber security risks.

Australia handed the perfect platform to talk up dangers of big techpublished at 05:00 BST

Katy Watson
Australia correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

While this week US President Donald Trump used his speech at the UN to play down fears about AI, Anthony Albanese is doing exactly the opposite – and in doing so, is once again promoting Australia as a leader when it comes to standing up to big tech.

That this AI breach has been made public during the UN General Assembly feels like more than a coincidence. Proud to have been a world-first when it comes to limiting social media for teens, Australia has not been shy in also saying there need to be better guardrails to protect against the power of AI.

“Big tech is big tech and most social media is also AI at the moment so it is very much the case that this is a relationship between governance and big tech companies,” says Tama Leaver, Professor of Internet Studies at Curtin University in Perth. “It’s impossible to say for sure – but it seems incredibly likely that this was very carefully planned.”

The end result … Australia, a middle power, gets some headlines on one of the biggest talking points of our time.

World's first known AI hack of government website, experts saypublished at 04:45 BST

Harry Sekulich
Reporting from Sydney

The incident in Australia is the first breach of a government body by rogue AI agents reported anywhere in the world, experts here say.

Hacking sensitive information and government data has happened before. The difference here is that it doesn't look like a human was responsible for the hack and it appears to have been unintentional.

Earlier in the year in Taiwan, foreign hackers used AI agents to seemingly breach government databases. In Australia, it seems the AI agents hacked into government information... unintentionally.

"Open AI's (breach in Australia) seems to have been on a larger scale (hundreds or thousands of agents, not tens)," Professor Toby Walsh at UNSW tells the BBC. "OpenAI's was also unintentional from an ally, while the Taiwain one appears intentional and from a foreign foe."

Dr Rob Nicholls – Senior Research Associate of AI regulation and policy at the University of Sydney – said there have been examples of breaches outside government agencies, including the Hugging Face incident.

"Each of the frontier labs – Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Gemini – have all recently fessed up that their agents have got out of test environments and done things that were unexpected," Dr Nicholls told the BBC.

'An odd way of reporting': The email that finally reached the PMpublished at 04:35 BST

Harry Sekulich
Reporting from Sydney

Speaking to cybersecurity and AI experts today, they agree that an email chain was an "odd" system of communicating such a serious breach to the Australian government.

"It's more than a little odd that OpenAI didn't think that perhaps the Australian cybersecurity centre, which is part of the Australian signals directorate [the cyber-security agency], it might not want to know very early on," Dr Rob Nicholls, research associate on AI regulation at the University of Sydney told the BBC.

However, Dr Hammond Pearce from the University of New South Wales Cyber Security Institute pointed out that OpenAI self-reported the incident.

"On the one hand, it's not good enough that OpenAI sat on this for months and didn't disclose it," he said earlier today.

"Eventually when they did disclose it in a really ad hoc way – not the proper way ... we can hopefully have some confidence that they're not misusing that data that they've vacuumed up. Malicious actors won't have the same compunction, right?"