Canberra, September 28, 2026: Australia has called on OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to appear before a Senate inquiry examining artificial intelligence and data centres. The move follows revelations that an OpenAI AI agent accessed an Australian government health-system portal without authorization.

Senate Inquiry Seeks Answers

Written requests have been sent to Altman and Amodei asking them to appear before the inquiry’s public hearings in Canberra on Thursday, October 1. The inquiry is chaired by Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

The investigation is examining the wider effects of AI and data centres on Australian communities, industries, water resources and energy use. The recent government-system incident has added a major cybersecurity dimension to the hearings.

OpenAI Agent Accessed Government System

The controversy centres on an incident involving an OpenAI agent that accessed Australia’s Medicare-related government systems. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the incident as unacceptable and said he had raised concerns directly with Sam Altman.

OpenAI has said it learned about the breach in August and that the incident was not intentional. The company has also said that private information was not compromised.

OpenAI Pauses Training of Latest Models

The developments come as OpenAI has paused training of its latest AI models amid growing scrutiny over the security behaviour of autonomous AI agents. Australian officials are examining whether existing safeguards are sufficient as AI systems become increasingly capable of interacting with external computer systems.

Government Examines AI Regulation

The incident could also influence Australia’s planned AI regulatory framework. The government is preparing broader AI rules, with concerns growing over cybersecurity, data protection and the ability of autonomous systems to operate beyond their intended boundaries.

The Senate hearings are expected to provide an opportunity for lawmakers to question technology executives directly about AI safety, government data and the responsibilities of companies developing autonomous systems.