Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is demanding answers from OpenAI’s chief Sam Altman after it was revealed an AI agent hacked into an Australian government website.

Speaking from New York on Thursday morning (AEST), Albanese said the OpenAI agent “infiltrated” the Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal, administered by Services Australia.

The incident occurred in June, but the government had only been informed of the shocking cyber attack.

Albanese said he had spoken to Altman and expressed “extreme concern”.

“I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred and the nature of the way that that notification occurred, as well, was unacceptable.”

Albanese said the AI agent accessed both public and non-public files.

The agent was conducting research into public medical spending when it found a way to break through privacy protections.

“No personal information is believed to have been accessed at this stage, but investigations are ongoing,” Albanese said.

“Evidence currently available is there is no broader compromise to the Services Australia network.

“Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable.”

Albanese said the Australian Signals Directorate would assist in a forensic examination of the breach and see if other government sites had been impacted.

“The Medicare Statistics Reporting Portal is a public-facing statistics portal that contains non-sensitive Medicare information relating to data and statistics, such as spending,” Albanese explained.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles told ABC TV that ministers were informed at the end of last week and over the weekend.

“The last few days we have been assuring ourselves of what the impact has been in relation to data and the portal itself and for what that’s worth, that’s relatively minor,” he said on Thursday morning.

“It’s important to assure people of that, no personal information has been accessed here.

“There’s no impact on the system, but that said, what we have seen is unauthorised access into an Australian Government website and that is completely unacceptable and we have made that clear to OpenAI.”

Marles said the “bigger picture” was the need for guardrails and safety measures as AI technology develops rapidly.

“That is why the Prime Minister along with other world leaders has issued a call in New York during the week specifically in relation to that.

“It is why we are seeing the CEOs of tech companies raise their own concerns to the UN overnight.”

AI slowdown push

Earlier, Australia was one of more than 20 countries that signed a joint statement urging additional safeguards for AI and to keep it under human control.

The statement was issued ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where AI measures are set to be on the agenda.

“AI must remain under human direction, oversight and control. It must be developed and used in line with international law,” the statement, released on Tuesday, Australian time, said.

“Leading scientists and executives are warning that the pace of development could outpace our ability to manage emerging risks.”

Alongside Australia, leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen signed the statement.

The joint statement also remained open for endorsement for other countries to add to its list of signatories, something Albanese hoped would happen.

“Other nations are putting forward their national interests,” he told reporters in New York on Tuesday, Australian time.

“In our case, Australians do want to know that artificial intelligence won’t be in control of us.

“We need to shape how it rolls out, rather than have artificial intelligence shape the way that our society functions.”

The statement comes just days before US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Washington on Thursday, US time.

Trump has labelled concerns about the rise of AI as a hoax, saying he did not want to cede ground in the technological race to China.

Albanese said Australia played a central role in putting the statement together, with the prime minister having direct discussions with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who issued the joint position on behalf of other nations.

“We continue to engage with our neighbours, this has been something that is discussed between leaders, just as it’s been discussed around lounge rooms,” he said.

“Artificial intelligence will have a massive impact on the way that our lives and our work is conducted.”

The statement said risks with AI needed to be addressed, without widening the gap between countries for access to some of the benefits of the technology.

The signatories called for AI companies to develop transparent safety protocols and for governments to develop common standards for the technology.

It also urged the UN to explore options to create an international institution that could set out AI standards.

-with AAP