The CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic have been called to appear before an Australian Senate inquiry into artificial intelligence following the disclosure of a breach involving an OpenAI AI agent and the country’s Medicare system.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei were sent written requests to appear at public hearings in Canberra on Thursday, according to a spokesperson for Australian Greens Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, who chairs the inquiry, Reuters reported.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.
The inquiry is examining the potential impact of artificial intelligence and data centers on Australian communities, industries, water resources and energy use. It is one of several federal and state-level investigations into AI in the country.
The hearing request comes days after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese disclosed that an OpenAI agent had accessed Australia’s Medicare database in June. Albanese described the incident as unacceptable and said he had expressed “extreme concern” to Altman.
OpenAI said it only became aware of the breach in August and that the incident was not intentional. The company said no private information was compromised.
The Medicare incident was one of at least four cases in which the OpenAI agent accessed Australian government websites, according to Reuters.
Hanson-Young said the incident raised questions for Altman about the security of AI agents and the need for regulation.
The episode could add pressure on Albanese’s Labor government as it prepares AI-specific legislation for next year, while also adding another point of tension to Australia-US relations, according to technology policy experts cited by Reuters.
The Australian government has already faced friction with US technology companies over its policy requiring social media platforms to restrict access for users under 16.
The Senate inquiry is expected to question the AI executives about how companies can ensure that increasingly autonomous AI systems operate safely and what regulatory measures may be needed to address risks associated with the technology.