Australia Condemns ‘Unacceptable’ OpenAI Breach of Government Health Portal

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks on the sidelines of the 81st U.N.

General Assembly at the U.N.

Headquarters in New York, on Sept.

22, 2026. —Ludovic Marin—AFP/Getty Images An OpenAI agent hacked into an Australian government health database in June, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed Wednesday, amid concerns from world leaders and artificial intelligence firms about the industry’s rapid, unregulated expansion .

Albanese said the AI agent had accessed public and non-public files in the statistics reporting service portal for Australia’s universal health insurance scheme, Medicare, in June.

OpenAI, however, only notified the government of the breach 84 days later—through an email sent to the public mailbox.

“No personal information is believed to have been accessed at this stage, but investigations are ongoing,” Albanese said in a press conference in New York, where he attended the U.N.

General Assembly.

“Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable.” An OpenAI spokesperson said in a statement that during a recent review, they identified activity involving “several Australian government websites and services as our models attempted to look up answers, and available statistics for questions about Australia during an internal evaluation.” Its AI models then “took actions we did not intend.” The breach follows a string of incidents where AI models have gone rogue , prompting debate about whether the world is ready to deal with such security risks stemming from its swift development.

Read More: The AI Tipping Point Albanese said he had a “very frank” phone call with Altman about the breach, and the Prime Minister claimed the OpenAI CEO “has acknowledged their issues with protocols.” The Prime Minister then said Australian intelligence authorities will help conduct a “forensic investigation” to look into whether other government systems were affected.

A task force will also review the incident, and the Australian government will seek advice on whether any offenses were committed and if the incident should be referred to the federal police.

The AI agent-led hack comes just as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman himself warned leaders present at the U.N.

Security Council about the risks AI systems pose with their increasing capabilities and autonomy: “They could move faster than our institutions, concentrate power in too few hands, or make decisions that people no longer understand or control.” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends the United Nations Security Council meeting on Artificial Intelligence during the 81st UN General Assembly, at the U.N.

Headquarters in New York City, U.S., on Sept.