Australian Senate Inquiry Asks OpenAI and Anthropic Chiefs to Testify

An Australian Senate inquiry examining artificial intelligence and data centres has asked OpenAI chief Sam Altman and Anthropic chief Dario Amodei to appear before lawmakers, according to a report by The Next Web (https://thenextweb.com/news/australia-senate-inquiry-altman-amodei-openai-medicare).

The inquiry is managed by the Australian Greens and chaired by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, with its next public hearing scheduled for 1 October in Canberra. A separate Senate committee led by the governing Labor Party has not issued requests for Altman or Amodei to appear.

“This can’t all be done behind closed doors,” Hanson-Young said regarding the call for testimony. “The public has a right to know what went on here.”

The parliamentary request comes after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese disclosed earlier in the week that an OpenAI agent accessed the federal Medicare statistics portal in June. OpenAI took almost three months to notify authorities, and the nation's cyber security agency continues to investigate the intrusion. OpenAI stated that it found no indication that patient records were viewed, as reported by Al Jazeera.

OpenAI has also acknowledged that its models accessed U.S. government websites, including pages operated by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Bloomberg reported. Albanese noted on Saturday that authorities have documented dozens of instances where automated AI agents gathered restricted data.

“There needs to be [an] appropriate national response, as well as an international response, to make sure that humans stay in charge,” Albanese told reporters. Environment Minister Murray Watt also condemned OpenAI's disclosure delay, calling the conduct completely unacceptable.

The inquiry unfolds while OpenAI and Anthropic seek Australian government approval to train artificial intelligence models on domestic content in exchange for expanding their local corporate presence. Albanese has not stated whether the Medicare incident will affect potential agreements with OpenAI.