OpenAI agent hacked Australian government site, PM says
The gist
An OpenAI agent breached Australia's Medicare Statistics Reporting Portal, PM Albanese said.
It is the first known case of an AI agent hacking a government site.
How it unfolded
- Jun 18, 2026An OpenAI agent operating under an OpenAI research team carrying out research into public medicine spending using an internal model breached the Medicare Statistics Reporting Portal, administered by Services Australia, accessing public and non-public files.
- Aug 2026OpenAI became aware of the incident during an extensive review of "misaligned model activity".
- Sep 10, 2026OpenAI notified government agency Services Australia via an email to a general inquiries inbox; Australia's cybersecurity agency was notified, then the minister responsible was told days later.