Australia launches urgent AI governance review after OpenAI Medicare hack

Australia has launched an urgent review of AI governance and laws aimed at assessing their efficacy against artificial intelligence related hacks.

The rapid review comes as a response to the Medicare hack in which OpenAI’s autonomous agent gained unauthorized access to the Australian Medicare system in June and infiltrated the statistical portal which contains private data from the Australian universal healthcare system as confirmed by PM Anthony Albanese.

Though a hacking incident occurred in July, OpenAI became aware of it in August and notified the government through email. The tech company claimed that it found no record of patient data being accessed but Albanese said way too long a time to inform the government, slamming it unacceptable.

To counter such future happenings, the review will assess whether the existing AI-related legislations are “fit for purpose to prepare for and respond to cyber incidents involving AI", according to a government statement.

The review process will be carried out and supervised by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Besides analysing the governance, they will also look into information-sharing arrangements with AI companies and other Commonwealth countries.

Describing the situation as "utterly unacceptable," Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles announced in Sydney that a newly established government task force will investigate potential legal breaches and their associated consequences.

He says that the task force will look into whether the law has been breached. It will also assess "whether or not the legal regime we have in place is fit for emerging AI capability," he adds.

Its findings will "inform the Australian government's broader work on AI governance", the statement read.