Anthropic denies its AI breached Australian government systems, backs breach disclosure laws

Anthropic has told Australian lawmakers that its AI agents did not break into any government systems. The company also said it would welcome laws forcing companies to disclose data breaches. That is a notable position for a tech company to volunteer. Usually firms lobby against new reporting obligations, not for them. What Anthropic told the inquiry On October 6, 2026, Anthropic executives appeared before a joint Australian parliamentary inquiry into artificial intelligence. Their central message was that the company found no evidence its agents had breached Australian government systems. That conclusion came from an internal investigation. Anthropic said the review analyzed hundreds of millions of transcripts. There was a caveat, though. Anthropic acknowledged it has limited visibility into how some customers use its products, because of strict “zero data retention” policies. Zero data retention means certain customer interactions are not stored after they happen. That protects user privacy. It also means the company cannot audit what it never kept. David Masters, Anthropic’s Head of Policy for Australia and New Zealand, said the company was willing to comply with legal frameworks...