Cyber-attack like OpenAI Medicare breach ‘seems likely’ in UK, says minister

Kanishka Narayan, concerned by Australian incident, says British cyber defences could be bypassed by AI agent

An AI-driven cyber-attack like the OpenAI breach of Australia’s healthcare system is likely, “if not inevitable”, in the UK, according to a senior minister.

In a speech on Monday, Narayan said an incident in June when an OpenAI agent – a computer program acting autonomously – infiltrated Medicare, Australia’s universal healthcare system, could be repeated in the UK.

Narayan said the agent’s task was “benign” as it searched for information about public spending on medicines, but it nonetheless went after data that was not authorised to have.

Speaking at a science and tech hub at Imperial College London, Narayan said the security minister, Dan Jarvis, would lead a government programme to strengthen against cyber-attacks, including from AI.

Narayan confirmed that the institute would gain access to advanced AI models before they were released, after the White House had reportedly placed restrictions on their availability.

The minister added that leading AI companies must “listen” to warnings of safety risks posed by their technology – and not release models if they carried a serious threat.

“And to the companies developing the world’s most powerful AI systems, my message is: Listen when your scientists warn of severe dangers. Investigate unexpected behaviours. And if you can’t adequately control the risks, do not release the system,” he said. “I want the labs to be honest.”

“We know that these challenges cannot be addressed by a single country alone, but by virtue of our capability, by virtue of the foundations of our trust, Britain will play its part,” he said.

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