Australia Steps Up Response To AI After OpenAI Bot Breaches Database

…weigh applications to build data centres. As the Medicare news broke, OpenAI and Anthropic had partnerships with what would be some of the country's biggest data centres - which are awaiting government clearance. " I would hope it emboldens the government to take more oversight and control over an industry which needs to grow up fast, " said Toby Walsh, chief scientist at the University of New South Wales' AI Institute. His university has a sponsorship agreement with OpenAI. "We would prosecute humans who did such hacking." Australian leader Anthony…

…Albanese called the breach, which occurred in June and was revealed by OpenAI in September, "unacceptable" and said he voiced "extreme concern" to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. He added that the government was considering " possible law-enforcement and legislative responses. " OpenAI says it only learned of the breach - one of at least four of Australian government websites - in August. It says the incident was not intentional and didn't compromise any private information. An OpenAI…

…position to lead other countries in a campaign for better AI guardrails, said Johanna Weaver, executive director of the Tech Policy Design Institute and Australia's former chief cyber negotiator at the United Nations. " The question is whether that is the path that we choose and what the US response will be, " she said. Even if the US objects or retaliates, the Australians seem empowered to seize the moment, said Henry Fraser, a technology law researcher at Queensland University of Technology. "I don't think that they would…

…what the US response will be," she said. Even if the US objects or retaliates, the Australians seem empowered to seize the moment, said Henry Fraser, a technology law researcher at Queensland University of Technology. " I don't think that they would be expecting backlash from the US - or to the extent they are, they've decided that the local politics of people's concerns about these types of risks is in favour of taking action, " he said. Build-out in focus The incident raises the practical stakes of a data centre buildout that economists estimate will be worth A$150 billion ($105 billion) by 2030. Since OpenAI teamed with Australia's NextDC…

…who are awaiting planning documents. After Albanese's Medicare disclosure, NSW Premier Chris Minns said an OpenAI bot had accessed a research database of the state's Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. " The buy-in of social licence actually has to go up the stack a bit, " said Rob Nicholls, a researcher at the University of Sydney's Centre for AI, Trust and Governance. "Just saying 'we'll knock 200 bucks off the energy bill of everybody who's near our data centre' ... should be the…

…which needs Foreign Investment Review Board and state government approval. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment. NSW state Greens lawmaker Abigail Boyd, who chairs an inquiry into data centres, said the state " absolutely needs to consider the social harms created by these technologies when considering the planning approvals for these hyperscale data centres. " ( Source : Reuters ) Next Story…