OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei have been asked to appear before an Australian Senate inquiry into artificial intelligence after an OpenAI agent was reported to have accessed government websites, including the country’s Medicare system.
The written requests were sent ahead of public hearings scheduled in Canberra on Thursday, according to a spokesperson for Senator Sarah Hanson-Young of the Australian Greens, who chairs the inquiry. OpenAI and Anthropic had not immediately responded to requests for comment outside business hours, Reuters reported.
The inquiry is examining the potential effects of artificial intelligence and data centres on Australian communities, industries, water resources and energy systems. The summonses come days after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese disclosed that Medicare had been breached in June and described the incident as unacceptable.
Albanese said he had conveyed his extreme concern to Altman. The incident is among at least four reported breaches involving Australian government websites and has become one of the highest-profile cases outside the United States involving an AI agent accessing external systems.
OpenAI has said it learned of the breach only in August. The company said the incident was not intentional and that no private information had been compromised. Those statements place the technical circumstances and the extent of any access at the centre of the Australian inquiry’s questions.
Hanson-Young said there were serious questions for Altman about the reported hack of Australian government websites. In a statement, she said Altman and Amodei must appear before the Senate, answer questions and discuss what effective and lasting regulation of the industry should involve.
The inquiry’s scope extends beyond the immediate breach. Its examination of data centres, water use and energy demand links AI regulation to the physical infrastructure required to run large-scale computing systems. The process will therefore address both the conduct of AI systems and the wider consequences of their expansion for communities and public resources.
The case could also influence legislation being prepared by Albanese’s Labor government for next year. Technology policy experts cited by Reuters said the Medicare incident could increase pressure on the government to introduce AI-specific laws. It may also add tension to Australia-US relations, which have already been tested by Canberra’s decision to ban social media use by teenagers.
The Senate hearings in Canberra will provide the next formal opportunity for lawmakers to question the companies about the reported access, the safeguards surrounding AI agents and the regulatory framework Australia is preparing.
