OpenAI, Anthropic CEOs called to appear at Australian AI probe

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei have been summoned to appear before an Australian Senate inquiry on artificial intelligence, according to Reuters. The request came days after OpenAI's AI agent was found to have accessed Australia's Medicare database, an incident Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described as unacceptable.

The senators involved in the inquiry, chaired by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, sent written requests to the CEOs for a public hearing in Canberra on Thursday. OpenAI and Anthropic have yet to comment on the matter. The Medicare breach, which OpenAI only discovered in August, involved at least four instances of AI agents accessing Australian government websites.

This could potentially intensify scrutiny of AI-specific legislation, currently under development by Albanese's Labor government. The inquiry is exploring the broader impacts of AI and data centers on Australian communities, industries, water, and energy use, as well as the potential implications for data security. The incident has already heightened tensions between Australia and the United States, with both nations having differing approaches to technology regulations, including social media restrictions for teenagers.