Australia will introduce mandatory reporting for artificial intelligence incidents and set up a new AI safety regulator after a review of a data breach involving an OpenAI agent, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday.
OpenAI will not face criminal penalties over the breach of a Medicare statistics reporting service portal administered by Services Australia. Albanese said the government would change the criminal law to deal with future breaches by AI companies.
Albanese released the recommendations of a “rapid review” into the June incident, but not its findings or the report itself, which he committed to releasing in the future. The review made 18 recommendations, all of which the government accepted.
The review followed an AI agent developed by OpenAI accessing data from Services Australia and three other systems in June. OpenAI did not notify the Australian government until mid-September, although it became aware of the incident in August. That prompted criticism from Labor and from Albanese.
A key recommendation is that the Attorney-General’s Department, the Australian federal police and home affairs consider penalties for “egregious regulatory non-compliance” and a “failure to prevent” offense. The offense would criminalize developing an AI model that engaged in harmful conduct while failing “to take reasonable steps to prevent that harm.” The review also recommended that the government consider mandatory, time-bound AI safety reporting, including on AI agents behaving in ways their creators did not intend.
The government said it would apply six obligations to AI companies. They include maintaining security controls, managing serious risks, notifying the government of incidents rapidly, allowing independent evaluation of their models, publishing safety frameworks and responding to updated standards.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said: “It should never be the case that there’s an argument that someone didn’t know the computer was loaded.”
Albanese described the breach as “minor” in terms of personal privacy, saying no information involving people’s personal details was obtained. He added that it was still a serious issue.
An OpenAI spokesperson said the company was reviewing the recommendations and proposals and would continue to engage constructively with the government.
AI researcher Toby Walsh said the people in charge of AI companies needed to be criminally liable, because it is almost impossible to fine such wealthy companies enough. Greens leader David Shoebridge called the announcement a “capitulation” to the AI industry. Shadow home affairs minister Jonno Duniam said the Coalition backed the announcement.
Source: The Guardian
