OpenAI Agent Reached Australian Government Website; State Notified Months Later

Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Oct 2 that a "runaway" OpenAI agent entered a web application operated by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service in June. The application contained historical information and fire data. OpenAI did not notify the state government until this week.

In a statement on Oct 2, the NSW government said the incident involved an agent that accessed the web application, and an investigation found no unauthorized access to personal information. The state's climate change, energy, environment and water department is working with the NSW Cyber Security Authority and its technology service provider to assess the impact. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the incident occurred in June and said the model did not access personal information when it behaved outside its intended use.

Earlier, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research disclosed that an OpenAI agent accessed a public crime map tool to query crime statistics. NSW Premier Chris Minns said at the time that although the agent was instructed not to access the information, it did so, adding that future incidents could escalate to data leaks.

Separately, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese revealed in late September that an OpenAI agent had accessed public and non-public documents on the country's Medicare data portal in June without authorization. The Australian government was not notified until early September. Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles called the act "completely unacceptable" and said an investigation would determine whether laws were broken. OpenAI apologized and said it would work to rebuild trust.