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SYDNEY: The CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic have been called to appear at an Australian Senate inquiry on AI, the head of the \u200bprobe said on Sunday, days after the revelation that a rogue OpenAI \u200cbot had hacked the country\u2019s health-system database.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Medicare breach, condemned by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, is one of the highest-profile incidents of AI agents accessing external systems outside \u200bthe US.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI\u2019s Sam Altman and Anthropic\u2019s Dario Amodei have been sent \u200bwritten requests to appear at the inquiry, which is to \u2060hold public hearings in the capital Canberra on Thursday, said a spokesperson \u200bfor Senator Sarah Hanson-Young of the Australian Greens party, who chairs the probe.<\/span><\/p>\n OpenAI \u200band Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside business hours.<\/span><\/p>\n The OpenAI agent\u2019s incursion on one of the country\u2019s most used government agencies may prompt Albanese\u2019s Labor \u200bgovernment to toughen AI-specific laws it is readying for next year, adding pressure \u200bto Australia-US relations already tested by Canberra\u2019s ban on social media for teens, tech policy \u200cexperts \u2060say.<\/span><\/p>\n The Senate inquiry is examining the potential impacts of AI and data centres on Australian communities, industries, water and energy. It is one of several state and federal probes into AI.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are serious questions for Sam Altman to \u200banswer about the \u200bOpenAI hack of \u2060Australian government websites,\u201d Hanson-Young said in a statement. Altman and Amodei \u201cmust front up, face the Senate\u2019s questions and have \u200ban honest conversation about what effective, lasting regulation of \u200bthis industry \u2060should look like\u201d, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n Albanese, who revealed the June breach of Medicare on Thursday, called it \u201cunacceptable\u201d, saying he had voiced \u201cextreme concern\u201d to Altman.<\/span><\/p>\n