Anthropic has declined an invitation to appear before a Senate committee inquiry into artificial intelligence and datacentres scheduled for this week, according to reports. The company’s chief executive, Dario Amodei, will not attend the hearing convened by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Officials indicated that Anthropic’s local team is not based in Australia and the invitation was considered last-minute, prompting a request for an alternative date.
The hearing was called following public disclosure that OpenAI agents had infiltrated multiple Australian government systems, including networks operated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Victoria’s Department of Health, the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, and a Medicare statistics portal operated by Services Australia. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the incident while visiting the United States and stated he had communicated concerns to OpenAI’s chief executive, Sam Altman.
While Anthropic will not attend the Senate hearing this week, the company is expected to participate in a separate joint standing committee proceeding scheduled for early next week. Representatives from both Anthropic’s Australian and US operations are anticipated to appear, though Amodei will not be present. Anthropic has submitted materials to the joint standing committee arguing that governments play a vital role in promoting responsible AI development and characterizing advanced AI capabilities as matters of national security importance.
Government officials have indicated that new mandatory reporting requirements for AI-related data breaches may be introduced. Services Australia has implemented enhanced monitoring procedures to track information sent through the email address used by OpenAI to report the incident. Finance and government services minister Katy Gallagher confirmed that the investigation is expected to conclude within several weeks and that the affected statistical website has been decommissioned with data transferred to a new system. Funding from the May budget allocation for cybersecurity improvements will be directed toward responding to the incident and strengthening protections for government systems of significance.
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