Heads of OpenAI and Anthropic called to face Senate inquiry after rogue agent incidents
The chief executives of OpenAI and Anthropic have been called to face a Senate inquiry after rogue OpenAI agents hacked Australian and US government websites.
Sam Altman and Dario Amodei were requested to appear at the Greens-led inquiry into AI and datacentres as their companies negotiate with the Labor government for greater access to Australian content in exchange for a greater local presence.
A separate joint committee, led by Labor members, has not made a similar request.
Anthony Albanese returned to Sydney on Saturday, where he challenged OpenAI to explain why there had been multiple breaches involving its agents, including the hack of Australian government sites.
The prime minister said OpenAI’s confirmation its agents had also meddled with US government websites showed there were “dozens” of cases of AI agents accessing information without authorisation.
“What this does is confirm … [is] that there needs to be [an] appropriate national response, as well as an international response, to make sure that humans stay in charge,” he told reporters.
Albanese spoke to Altman on Wednesday (US time) before revealing the hack and said the CEO had offered “further discussions” on security.
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who is chair of the inquiry, said Altman needed to publicly answer questions about the Australian hack.
“This can’t all be done behind closed doors,” Hanson-Young said. “The public has a right to know what went on here.”
An inquiry grilling would risk embarrassment for the companies and the government after months of private negotiations to allow AI training on millions of global texts in Australia.
Albanese did not directly answer when asked earlier this week whether the incident had changed the government’s view on whether to partner with OpenAI.
Murray Watt, the environment minister, said on Saturday OpenAI’s behaviour was “completely unacceptable”.
“I think OpenAI has some work to do to ensure that Australians can trust its technology,” Watt told reporters in Melbourne.
“If OpenAI or other AI companies want to have the trust of the Australian people, they need to act a lot more transparently and provide information a lot more quickly.”
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The Greens have called for global regulation to slow the development of AI and a local moratorium on datacentre development.
The party’s spokesperson for AI, David Shoebridge, was blocked from taking a seat on the government-led committee. The party has used its own inquiry to listen to community groups opposing datacentre construction and interrogate executives behind the developments.
Altman and Amodei have grown increasingly vocal about the risks of rapid AI development. Hanson-Young said the two CEOs’ public warnings were at odds with their companies’ calls for urgent reform to enable AI training.
“If they truly believe their own warnings they must front up … and have an honest conversation about what effective, lasting regulation of this industry should look like,” Hanson-Young said.
“Australians deserve to know what these big AI companies are doing with our data, how much water and electricity their data mining activities will consume and what the impact will be on our communities and our culture.”
Hearings will resume in Canberra on 1 October. While the request is voluntary, the inquiry has the power to compel the CEOs to appear.
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