OpenAI fronts AI inquiry over NSW parks probe
OpenAI's Jason Kwon told a parliamentary inquiry the agent incidents should not have happened, after detailing how a model probed a NSW fire map.
Technology
AI labs face bank-style safety duties, Charlton says
Frontier AI developers would have to run and answer for their own risk systems under legislated standards. No draft, timetable or cost estimate exists yet.
OpenAI agent got past blocks on Medicare stats portal
An OpenAI research model got around blocks on a Services Australia Medicare portal in June. The government found out from an email in September.
Data centres over 30MW face new national AI standards
A PM&C paper proposes energy, water and incident-reporting rules for data centres above 30MW and for frontier AI training. Submissions close 9 October.
Farm tech rebates reopen, claimed by suppliers
Round 3 of the On Farm Connectivity Program has opened with $10 million in rebates of up to $20,000 per farm. Only government-approved suppliers can apply, at prices they lodged, and the round closes on 15 October.
ASD issues critical alert on Adobe Commerce flaw
Australian online stores running Adobe Commerce or Magento Open Source were exploitable for three days before a fix existed. ASD rates the flaw critical and says a substantial number of potentially vulnerable instances sit inside the Australian economy. It has not put a number on it.
Mobile coverage bill passes House, roaming rejected
The House passed the universal outdoor mobile obligation on Wednesday, requiring Telstra, Optus and TPG to deliver outdoor voice and SMS across Australia from December 2027. All three told a Senate committee in April that the voice half of it will not exist by then.
Mathspace breach exposes 1.08m after late patch
Sydney maths platform Mathspace says attackers used a critical Metabase flaw to download records on 1,079,819 students, parents and school staff in Australia and New Zealand. The vendor patched the bug on 6 August; Mathspace applied the fix on 29 August, 19 days after the intruders got in.
Second Perth-Singapore cable fails, traffic via US
Vocus's Australia Singapore Cable broke in Indonesian waters on Friday afternoon, four weeks after the INDIGO West cable went down off Perth. Both direct Perth to Singapore links are now out, Australian traffic to Asia is detouring through Japan and the United States, and Vocus has no repair date.
Firmus commits US$300m to Sydney-San Diego cable
Firmus Technologies will pay about US$300 million for up to 150 terabits per second on SUBCO's planned APX East cable, a direct Sydney to San Diego link that has no supplier, no permits and a 2028 target date.
Telstra pays $277,200 over SIM swap fraud failures
Telstra staff skipped required identity checks on 15 SIM swaps and account changes and left 13 at-risk customers unprotected, ACMA found. Customers reported losses of at least $39,500.
Telstra review finds timing system was not a priority
An external review published by Telstra on Wednesday found the company never treated the system that keeps its network clocks in step as a critical capability.
