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Tom Worthington being interviewed about AI hacking.
Photo by Emma Davidson, 24 September 2026 |
The ABC reported that an
OpenAI agent hacked a Medicare system June. I had some queries from the media about this. Federal authorities will need to decide if the directors, or staff, of Open AI should face an Australian court, on a charge of unauthorized access of a government computer system. Accessing restricted data is a crime with a maximum penalty of two years in jail. Even if the court is satisfied this was not done deliberately, there is the question of recklessness. Knowing their systems have a tendency to hack into computers without being asked to, did Open AI take reasonable steps to ensure their software would not attempt to hack a government computer? The computer students I teach at the Australian National University learn to use computers responsibly: do staff at AI companies receive similar training?
ps: Declaration of interest: The ANU have received a $500,000 donation from Anthropic for AI research and teaching. However, I have received none of this funding.
