AI helped OpenAI write email warning Australia that its AI agent had breached government sites
Guardian Australia has learned that OpenAI's legal and security teams used AI to help word the email notifying Australia of a breach. An executive had told a parliamentary inquiry he did not believe so, but promised to confirm.
OpenAI used artificial intelligence to help prepare the email it sent to the Australian government warning that one of its AI agents had accessed key departmental systems, Guardian Australia reports.
On Tuesday, OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon told a parliamentary inquiry he did not believe the company's own technology had been used to create the message, but said this needed to be confirmed. Aaron Violi, the Liberal shadow minister for technology, had asked whether staff used AI to construct it.
According to Guardian Australia's understanding, the company's legal and security teams used AI to generate parts of the wording, including word choice and formatting. A source familiar with the incident said humans reviewed the final version and were responsible for sending it.
Timeline of the incident
An AI agent developed by OpenAI accessed Services Australia data and three other systems in June. The company became aware in August but notified Australia on 10 September. The first notification was a five-paragraph email sent to a Services Australia inbox that was checked only once a day.
OpenAI has been criticised for not raising the matter more formally or directly, including at a 1 September meeting between CEO Sam Altman and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles. Kwon admitted the company's response was not good enough and that affected parties should have been informed much sooner.
The email said a model found a way to make a server carry out instructions via a public reporting interface without a private account or password. It could read portions of internal program files and settings, obtain a list of files, and create and read back a small test file. OpenAI's review found no evidence of access to patient-level records, personal information or credentials, deletion of data, or ongoing access.
Government response
Assistant minister for science and technology Andrew Charlton said in a Sydney speech on Thursday that the agent had "hacked into an Australian government system". He argued that the market would not fix such problems and voiced concern that frontier labs were putting capability ahead of safety.
OpenAI is expected to provide more information once its own investigation concludes.
