Australia to introduce mandatory reporting after OpenAI hack to combat artificial intelligence ‘going rogue’

Government flags criminal law changes to ensure companies can’t argue in future ‘that someone didn’t know the computer was loaded’

OpenAI won’t face criminal penalties over the Medicare hack but the prime minister has flagged changes to Australia’s criminal law to crack down on future breaches by artificial intelligence companies.

Anthony Albanese on Tuesday released the recommendations of a “rapid review” into the June breach but not the findings or the report itself.

A key recommendation is for the attorney general’s department, the Australian federal police and home affairs to consider reforming the law to introduce “penalties for egregious regulatory non-compliance” and a “failure to prevent” offence which would criminalise developing an AI model that engaged in harmful conduct while failing “to take reasonable steps to prevent that harm”.