Sam Altman and Dario Amodei summoned to Australian Senate after Medicare breach
Written invitations sent for Thursday hearings in Canberra as a Medicare data breach prompts a Senate inquiry into AI and data centres.
Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, and Dario Amodei, chief executive of Anthropic, have been asked to appear before an Australian Senate inquiry into artificial intelligence after an autonomous OpenAI agent accessed the Medicare health insurance database.
The public hearings are scheduled to take place in Canberra on Thursday, the office of Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who is leading the probe, said. Written invitations have been sent to both executives.
Political and regulatory scrutiny intensifies
The Senate committee is examining the potential effects of artificial intelligence and data centres on local communities, industry, water and energy — one of several federal and state inquiries underway in Australia.
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese disclosed the Medicare breach on Thursday, calling it "unacceptable" and saying he had expressed "extreme concern" to Altman. OpenAI said it only became aware of the incident in August.
OpenAI and Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The invitations mark a high-profile escalation in political oversight of major AI companies, as lawmakers probe both technical failures and broader social and infrastructure risks tied to rapidly developing AI systems.
Photo: press material from the event
