World leader accuses AI agent of hacking into government website outside the US
The power of artificial intelligence is under the global microscope at the United Nations General Assembly as AI leads Big Tech companies to all-time highs, and regulation and trade comes into focus as China's Xi Jinping meets President Donald Trump.
In what appears to be a world-first, an OpenAI agent has successfully hacked into an Australian government health database.
The AI agent bypassed security blocks on a Medicare statistics portal while conducting routine research on public medical spending, sparking global security concerns and a direct confrontation between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the United Nations General Assembly.
"Evidence currently available is there is no broader compromise to the ... network. Nonetheless, this situation is obviously unacceptable," Albanese told reporters Wednesday in New York, where he is attending the UN General Assembly.
Investigations continue and Australia has voiced its "extreme concern about this incident" to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Albanese said, adding that he was deeply disappointed by the company's delay in notifying the government.
"It took until Sept. 10 before there was any notification at all," Albanese said, adding the investigation would also examine why government systems had failed to detect the breach in the first place.
In a statement, OpenAI said its "review found no evidence of patient records being accessed."
It added that it "identified activity involving several Australian government websites and services as our models attempted to look up answers ... our models took actions we did not intend."
Reuters contributed to this report.
AI could be an area for cooperation between President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping, analysts say.
Implications for national security, economic competitiveness and military capabilities, and shared US and Chinese concerns about misuse will be topics of discussion during their state summit Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Bessent discussed AI with He Lifeng last weekend, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was nascent thinking about "the equivalent of a hotline that we had during the Cold War" to avoid dangerous incidents that "could impact economies or societies and even lead to a conflict between nation-states."
However, analysts say intense competition in AI is likely to limit the scope for anything beyond symbolic agreements.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has found himself in the political crosshairs as allies of President Donald Trump launch a new offensive against his cautious stance on artificial intelligence safety.
Trump surrogates are positioning Amodei as the face of AI "doomerism" and a figurehead of the effective altruism movement, which they argue runs counter to the president's tech agenda, according to Axios, citing a White House memo.
Trump allies are actively pushing back against Amodei's AI safety warnings ahead of the midterm elections, viewing his regulation-friendly stance as an easy political target. A circulating White House memo reportedly labeled the effective altruism movement an "AI-doom pipeline."
The administration's focus remains on accelerating AI development . Amodei's cautious safety protocols represent a "globalist approach to innovation" that directly clashes with Trump's "America First" strategy, according to the report.
The escalating political attacks present a potentially worrisome headwind for investors, particularly as Anthropic prepares for what is expected to be a record-setting initial public offering (IPO).
Dallas-based cybersecurity startup Island just secured a $400 million Series F funding round, propelling its valuation to a massive $6.4 billion.
Originally known for pioneering the secure enterprise browser, Island is expanding its platform to build an "agentic control plane." As enterprises deploy more autonomous AI agents, Island's new control layer aims to provide the visibility, guardrails, and auditing required to keep corporate data secure.
The latest funding values Island at more than 30% above its $4.8 billion valuation in a 2025 funding round. Investors are pouring money into cybersecurity companies as businesses and governments grapple with new security risks, including rogue AI agents that can act beyond their intended controls and potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive systems, data and online services.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Pope Leo and the Vatican are warning of the AI apocalypse, putting the threat at the very center of his papacy, actively pushing for international oversight.
Pope Leo has repeatedly warned that unchecked AI could spread misinformation, prioritize conflict, and potentially lead the world down a path of unending war. On Thursday, he told the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that while AI can benefit humanity, it introduces "new dangers to security and international peace."
He urged global leaders to "govern wisely" in overseeing the technology.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomat, reiterated Leo's call for international regulation of the industry at an event in Rome last week, warning that countries cannot "go it alone" on the technology.
"The future of humanity is really at stake here," Parolin said. The world, he said, needs "everyone's involvement in establishing some common rules that can genuinely govern this phenomenon."
A major concern for the pontiff is the integration of AI in military systems. In his first encyclical released in May, Pope Leo warned that autonomous weapons have advanced "practically beyond any human reach to govern them," likening AI-powered drones to indiscriminate landmines.
Reuters contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump continues to reject forces working against his agenda to make the U.S. the leader in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency under the regulatory guise of "safeguards."
The president and the Department of Justice are the guardians of the rapidly expanding industry, Trump stressed Thursday morning.
"A big day with President Xi of China," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is. That is China’s position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!"
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has officially shut down rumors that he is stepping into a new role as the President Donald Trump's "AI czar."
Addressing the claims during an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier on "Special Report," Bessent categorized the circulating reports as "fake news."
"The only AI czar is President Trump," Bessent said.
The clarification signals Trump intends to remain the primary architect of the administration's artificial intelligence strategy as the U.S. navigates rapid AI innovation and global competition.
Anthropic's Claude is claiming a new scientific discovery that can advance the world in medicine.
"Claude has discovered a previously unknown enzyme system hidden in the DNA of bacteriophages," Anthropic posted Wednesday on X.
"We don’t yet understand what this system does, but only a handful of known systems share its features, and all of them are able to cut, copy, and paste DNA. Historically, the discovery of such programmable systems has helped revolutionize medicine."
The CEOs of two of the world's leading AI companies warned the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that rapidly advancing AI could threaten humanity if governments and industry fail to keep it under human control.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said AI has enormous potential but also carries significant risks if it is not developed responsibly.
"If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole," Amodei told the 15-member council during a special meeting on AI held alongside the U.N. General Assembly.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman delivered a similar warning, saying AI's development could move "so fast" that humans no longer have the ability to understand or intervene.
This is an excerpt from FOX Business' Sophia Compton and Efrat Lachter report.
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