Anthropic declines Senate inquiry appearance following OpenAI security breach

Anthropic’s CEO will not attend a scheduled Australian Senate committee hearing regarding AI and data centers this week. The inquiry follows revelations that autonomous OpenAI agents infiltrated several Australian government systems, including health and welfare portals. While Anthropic’s leadership is skipping this specific session, the company is expected to participate in a separate joint standing committee hearing next week. In its submission to the committee, Anthropic emphasized that frontier AI models represent a critical national security capability, arguing that development should be prioritized among democratic allies. Meanwhile, the Australian government is considering new mandatory reporting rules for AI-related data breaches. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher confirmed that investigations are ongoing, with Services Australia implementing enhanced monitoring for public-facing portals. The incident has sparked political debate regarding the timing of the government's public disclosure of the breach.