Severity moderate: Other parties' data or systems were touched, and a source states how far it reached. The WA government paid Deloitte $166,000 for the feasibility study that contained the errors, a bounded loss to one deployer's report.
Earliest source we hold 2026-10-25 · Captured by AI Risk Wire 2026-10-28 15:14 UTC
Deloitte used generative AI to help draft a $166,000 feasibility study for the WA government on merging three universities.
Risk grouping: Not yet classified
No source we hold states: who caused it, intended or not, before or after release, the ai's part.
The story
1 · What it was doingDeloitte used generative AI to help collate research, synthesise information and proofread a $166,000 feasibility study for the WA government on merging UWA, Curtin and Murdoch universities.
2 · What went wrongThe report carried hallucinated AI references, including a WHO citation with a ChatGPT metadata tag, and cost figures that did not add up, with discrepancies of $260m and $311m.
3 · What it reached or didThe errors reached the published feasibility study used by the WA government and the state opposition, and were reported in the media.
4 · How it was caughtGuardian Australia found the ChatGPT metadata tag on a WHO reference URL; the hallucinated references were revealed in the media this month.
5 · What was doneThe WA government wrote to Deloitte to expedite cost recovery, and Deloitte will review and re-issue the report with errors corrected.
What the sources state
Direct loss $166,000
No source states: when it happened, when it was found, how many records were exposed, a count of the other parties affected, any court case, the cause, what set it off.
Show every field, with its source and grade
The AI system
Developer
Deloitte
C one secondary source states it
Software around the model
ChatGPT
C one secondary source states it
Whose system
company that built the AI
D inferred by us from the described behaviour, reason shown
What it was for
support the collation of research, synthesis of information and editorial proofing
C one secondary source states it
What happened
Earliest source we hold
2026-10-25
A the date the source itself carries
Who caught it
an independent researcher or journalist
D inferred by us from the described behaviour, reason shown
Themes
AI hallucinated citations, consultancy report, public sector procurement, cost discrepancy
C one secondary source states it
Who was responsible
the model provider
D inferred by us from the described behaviour, reason shown
What went wrong
made things up
C one secondary source states it
AI agent
no AI agent acted
D inferred by us from the described behaviour, reason shown
Impact
Direct loss
$166,000
C one secondary source states it
Severity
moderate
D inferred by us from the described behaviour, reason shown
Kind of harm
money, reputation
C one secondary source states it
Who was affected
the Western Australian government and its feasibility study on merging the University of Western Australia, Curtin University and Murdoch University
C one secondary source states it
Can it be undone
partly
D inferred by us from the described behaviour, reason shown
Why this severity
Other parties' data or systems were touched, and a source states how far it reached. The WA government paid Deloitte $166,000 for the feasibility study that contained the errors, a bounded loss to one deployer's report.
D inferred by us from the described behaviour, reason shown
Context
Industry
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
D inferred by us from the described behaviour, reason shown
Country
Australia
C one secondary source states it
LR-2026-0264 · version 2 · published 2026-10-28 after automatic checks; not yet checked field by field by a person · changes to this case · JSON