OpenAI boss Sam Altman called to face an Australian Senate inquiry; The government shuts down calls for another cut to the fuel excise; and in rugby, the Wallabies face the world champions in Perth.
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT:
- OpenAI boss Sam Altman called to face an Australian Senate inquiry
- The government shuts down calls for another cut to the fuel excise
- The Wallabies face the world champions in Perth
OpenAI boss Sam Altman has been called to face an Australian Senate inquiry as pressure mounts over rogue AI agents accessing government websites.
Mr Altman and Anthropic chief Dario Amodei have been invited to appear after incidents involving government sites in Australia and the United States.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says OpenAI has questions to answer over the growing number of unauthorised breaches.
“We now know that it wasn't just the issue of the Australian sites that have been subject to AI agents accessing information without authorisation. Now it's up to OpenAI to state why it is that there are now multiple cases where this has occurred.”
.
The federal government has again ruled out another cut to the fuel excise, as Australians brace for the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decision on Tuesday.
The cash rate is already at 4.35 per cent after three increases this year, with inflation still above the Reserve Bank’s two-to-three per cent target.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles tells News24, the government knows households are under pressure, but is not considering further relief at the petrol bowser.
"Again, we're not considering that. I mean, what what we are focused on is other cost of living measures and managing the budget in in the most prudent way possible, which gives us the space to to look at cost of living as as we go forward. I mean, cost of living really has been the challenge since we've come to government, and it continues to be that, and we're obviously seeing what's playing out around the world. And we very much know how difficult it is for Australians to make ends meet."
.
Bangkok has declared all 50 districts flood disaster areas after two days of torrential rain swamped homes and major roads.
Nearly 300 millimetres of rain has fallen in the Thai capital, leaving some streets under waist-deep water and prompting emergency warnings for people living near canals.
The army is setting up shelters and field kitchens, with residents urged to avoid unnecessary travel.
More than 200 shelters have opened across the city, with about 4,200 people forced from their homes.
.
Donald Trump says the United States will not deepen artificial intelligence cooperation with China, despite the two countries agreeing to new talks on the technology.
President Xi Jinping has since returned to Beijing after a three-day visit to Washington, where the two sides agreed to establish a channel for handling AI-related incidents.
But Mr Trump says America needs to protect its lead over China.
“What they want to do is they want to stop our progress, because we're leading China by a lot and we're going to keep it that way. I would rather not integrate because we're leading by a lot. When you're leading, you don't open it up to each other.”
.
As families head to the beach for the school holidays, new figures show just how often sharks are being detected along the New South Wales coastline.
Drone patrols recorded 1,225 sightings during July and August, an average of about 20 a day, prompting 360 safety responses.
Those included clearing people from the water, sounding warning alarms and deploying rescue boats and jet skis.
The scale of the operation is also growing.
Surf Life Saving NSW completed 49,000 flights over the two months, covering 343,000 kilometres, while surveillance is now operating across 97 beaches.
Thirteen shark-bite incidents have been reported across Australia so far this year, including five in New South Wales, according to the latest available tally.
.
To sport, in Rugby Union, Wallabies coach Les Kiss says Australia is ready for a tough test against defending world champions South Africa in Perth tonight.
Kiss began his coaching career in South Africa and says that experience helped shape the path that eventually brought him to the Wallabies.
He says Australia has been preparing mentally as well as physically for the challenge.
"Now we're playing the best in the world. So we know it's going to be a tough, hard yakka (job) this weekend, but you know it's our backyard. Let's make sure we show up, which we will. And see what happens."
