Top OpenAI boss on hack apology tour 'can't explain' Australian AI distrust

A top OpenAI executive flown to Australia to mop up after the company's Medicare statistics hack said he could not explain why Australians are among the world's most distrustful of AI.

Chief strategy officer Jason Kwon made the comments to the ABC as he left a parliamentary inquiry into AI, the company's first public appearance since the prime minister revealed the hack late last month.

Mr Kwon pledged to rebuild trust after the hack and the company's handling of its disclosure drew criticism from the federal government.

After touting Australia's adoption rate of OpenAI's ChatGPT, Mr Kwon did not have an answer for why some polls show that a majority of the nation does not trust the technology, more than in most other countries.

"I can't explain the current sentiment; all we can do is continue to get better," he said.

OpenAI says it made changes to prevent future hacks

Mr Kwon said OpenAI now alerts staff when its models use the internet in ways they should not during training.

But he acknowledged OpenAI should have told the Australian government about the Medicare hack sooner, rather than waiting to establish more facts.

He said the company identified the NSW Parks and Wildlife breach last week and reported it to the state government much sooner.

Mr Kwon also added that chief executive Sam Altman had not known about it when he met Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles on September 1, despite company staff having first found out about the hack several weeks prior.

While in Australia, Mr Kwon will interview several people for OpenAI's promised "taskforce" to help guide its own response to the hack, a spokesperson told the ABC this afternoon.

Anthropic would have told Australia if it had done the hack

Representatives of rival AI company Anthropic told the committee that it would have made a similar disclosure if it had discovered its technology had hacked another company.

The company also backed a proposal floated by the federal government's Office of AI that would require AI developers to report serious safety incidents, saying its current reporting commitments were largely voluntary.

Anthropic representatives also said it was finalising a deal to let Australia's AI Safety Institute independently test its models.

Its international envoy, former US ambassador to Australia Jeff Bleich, told the committee that the company wants to train its AI in Australia.

But he said Australia's current copyright regime was an obstacle that needed to change, regardless of any licensing deals it might sign.

"You can't license the entire internet,"

he said.

Anthropic has not publicly disclosed signing any licensing deals in Australia.

Creatives and rights holders reject claims status quo isn't working

Groups representing musicians, writers and voice actors rejected calls to loosen copyright laws to attract AI investment, accusing the companies of taking their work without permission.

ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd warned that such a deal would threaten Australia's music industry.

"Australia's artists will be the roadkill in the rush to this AI deal," she told the committee.

The groups argued that AI companies could already seek permission and pay to use creative work under existing copyright law.

They also said members were not just after payment but also control over whether AI companies would train on their work.

"The idea that payment is the only thing we're haggling about is a step in the wrong direction," Australian Writers' Guild executive director Claire Pullen said.

Big tech's old guard warns against drastic regulation

Later in the day, both Google and Microsoft appeared before the committee urging a less catastrophic approach to regulating the technology.

Microsoft said Australia should build on its existing laws, including privacy and anti-discrimination protections, updating them where needed and adopting AI standards that work across borders.

Google also called for common industry standards and rules that work across borders, warning against duplication while saying AI was too important not to regulate.

The committee is set to have another hearing in Sydney tomorrow.