· ai-devtools
Australia may make knowingly selling unsafe AI a crime
Australia’s government will consider creating a new criminal offense to punish AI companies which knowingly release harmful models.
Canberra dangled that possibility yesterday when releasing the results of an investigation into OpenAI’s admission that its agents accessed non-public medical records – and that it didn’t disclose the incident for weeks. Security at the agency which held those records fell short of contemporary best practice but Canberra nonetheless ordered a rapid review into Australia’s ability to handle infosec incidents involving AI. That review landed yesterday, complete with 18 recommendations including one that would make it mandatory for AI companies to report misaligned behavior or security incidents involving their models, and perhaps impose criminal penalties for “egregious regulatory non-compliance.”
Another recommendation calls for consideration of “A standalone ‘failure to prevent’ offence which would criminalize instances where the company is responsible for developing an AI model that engages in harmful conduct, and the company fails to take reasonable steps to prevent that harm.” The review suggests two ministries and Australia’s Federal Police consider those reforms, meaning this is not something that will happen in a hurry, if at all, for a couple of reasons. If AI companies straighten up and fly right, Canberra might not need to do more. The other reason Australia might not criminalize AI is economic pragmatism.
