{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-23T06:10:42.291Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"accounting","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":1,"coverage":{"cases":1,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":0,"minors":0,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-kpmg-australia-partner-fined-for-uploading-course-manual-to-ai-tool-in-internal-ai-training-exam","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The partner, a registered company auditor, completed mandatory AI training in July. Training materials recommended downloading a reference manual as part of the course. The individual breached firm rules by uploading the document into an AI tool to generate an answer to an exam question.'; 'The firm said its knowledge checks are open-book following internal training courses, allowing personnel to download materials but prohibiting the uploading of those materials into AI tools during testing.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'However, the partner breached KPMG’s rules by uploading that reference document into an AI tool to answer an exam question.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The unnamed partner was forced to redo the test after uploading training materials into an AI platform to help answer questions on the use of the fast-evolving technology.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"A KPMG Australia partner who is a registered company auditor completed the firm's mandatory AI training and, against firm rules for its open-book knowledge checks, uploaded the course's reference manual into an AI tool to generate an answer to an exam question.","causal_attribution":"The AFR's account, relayed by HRD, the International Accounting Bulletin and the Financial Times; the firm is the apparent source of the facts. The AI tool is not named."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'KPMG’s internal systems detected the activity in August.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'KPMG’s internal AI detection tools picked up the instance in August.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'The consultancy used its own AI detection tools to discover the cheating, according to the Australian Finance Review, which first reported on it.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"KPMG's monitoring detected the AI use in August, and the firm said it had used its own AI detection tools to find staff using AI in internal exams.","causal_attribution":"The AFR's account as relayed; how the monitoring works is not described."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'including a partner who will be fined more than $10,000 for using the technology in a training course about AI.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The unnamed partner was asked to redo the test.'; 'Following an internal investigation, KPMG decided the partner should be fined more than $10,000 of future income.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'A partner at KPMG Australia will forfeit more than $10,000 in future income after using artificial intelligence to answer a question in an internal training exam about artificial intelligence (AI)'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"After an internal investigation, KPMG decided the partner should forfeit more than A$10,000 of future income, and the partner was asked to redo the test.","causal_attribution":"The fine is the firm's response to the partner's AI use, as reported by the AFR and its relays."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The partner also self-reported to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, which has launched its own investigation.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'The partner who cheated self-reported to CA ANZ, which is currently investigating the case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the corporate regulator, said it had confirmed the incident with KPMG but would not take further action until the accountants’ professional trade body started disciplinary proceedings against the partner.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"The partner self-reported to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, which opened its own investigation; ASIC said it had confirmed the incident with KPMG but would not take further action until the professional body started disciplinary proceedings.","causal_attribution":"The self-report and CA ANZ investigation come from the AFR's account; ASIC's position is the Financial Times's report. No CA ANZ outcome is reported."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'More than two dozen KPMG Australia staff have been caught using AI tools to cheat on internal exams since July, the company said'; '“Given the everyday use of these tools, some people breach our policy. We take it seriously when they do.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"},{"locator":"'The other 27 staff are at or below a manager level.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'More than two dozen staff have been caught over this financial year using AI tools for internal exams, according to KPMG.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"KPMG said more than two dozen staff had been caught using AI tools in internal exams since July, the others at or below manager level, and its chief executive said some people breach its policy given the everyday use of these tools.","causal_attribution":"Context from KPMG's statements; no individual consequence is reported for the other staff."}],"effects":[{"label":"fined more than A$10,000 of future income and asked to redo the test after using an AI tool in an internal exam against firm rules","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"under investigation by the professional accounting body after self-reporting the AI use","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/kpmg-partner-fined-for-using-ai-to-cheat-on-an-ai-test-20260215-p5o2f2","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23; HTTP 200 but paywalled: only the headline and the first two paragraphs are readable. Original report; the other outlets relay it.","independence_group":"afr-kpmg-partner-ai-exam-feb-2026"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.hcamag.com/au/specialisation/employment-law/kpmg-partner-fined-over-ai-exam-breach/565406","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23; HTTP 200, full text read. Relays the AFR report ('according to reporting by Australian Financial Review') with the training, detection and fine details.","independence_group":"afr-kpmg-partner-ai-exam-feb-2026"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.internationalaccountingbulletin.com/news/kpmg-australia-penalises-partner/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23; HTTP 200, full text read. Relays the AFR report ('the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported').","independence_group":"afr-kpmg-partner-ai-exam-feb-2026"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.accountingtimes.com.au/profession/kpmg-partner-uses-ai-to-cheat-on-ai-test-faces-fine","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23; HTTP 200, full text read. Relays the AFR report ('As first reported by The Australian Financial Review').","independence_group":"afr-kpmg-partner-ai-exam-feb-2026"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/feb/16/kpmg-partner-fined-artificial-intelligence-ai-training-test","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23; HTTP 200, full text read. Relays the AFR report and quotes KPMG's chief executive.","independence_group":"afr-kpmg-partner-ai-exam-feb-2026"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2026/02/16/kpmg-partner-in-australia-fined-over-using-ai-to-pass-ai-test/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-23; HTTP 200, full text read. Financial Times copy republished by the Irish Times; credits the AFR with first reporting the fine and adds ASIC's statement.","independence_group":"ft-kpmg-partner-ai-exam-feb-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["work","education"],"unknowns":["The year of the training and of the detection: the February 2026 reports say July and August without a year and place KPMG's cases in the current financial year.","Which AI tool the partner used and what it generated.","When the fine was decided or applied, and the outcome of the CA ANZ investigation."],"geography":{"basis":"The employer is KPMG Australia and the exam was its internal Australian training (AFR; HRD); the professional body is Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and the regulator ASIC. No court is involved. Where the partner lives is not stated.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["AU"],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a consequential-response case: an employer's fine of a partner for prohibited AI use in an internal exam, reported by the Australian Financial Review and relayed with the training, detection and penalty details. All facts rest on that one report chain plus KPMG's statements; the partner is not named.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-23"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The harm is the employer's fine in response to the partner's own prohibited use of an AI tool, reviewed as a consequential response. According to the AFR as relayed by HRD and the International Accounting Bulletin, the partner uploaded the course's reference manual into an AI tool to generate an answer to an exam question; KPMG's monitoring detected that use and the firm fined the partner for it. The tool and its output are not described further.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"KPMG Australia fined a partner more than A$10,000 for uploading course material to an AI tool to answer an internal AI training exam, reports say","summary":"A partner at KPMG Australia, who is also a registered company auditor, was fined more than A$10,000 of future income after uploading a training course's reference manual into an AI tool to answer a question in the firm's internal exam on AI, the Australian Financial Review reported on 15 February 2026; other outlets relaying it say the partner was also made to redo the test. According to those reports, the partner completed the mandatory AI training in July, the firm's monitoring detected the AI use in August, and an internal investigation decided the fine; the reports do not state the year of the training or the detection. The partner self-reported to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), which is investigating. KPMG said more than two dozen staff had been caught using AI in internal exams since July. The partner is not named.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-02-15","aiSystem":"An AI tool, not named in the reports, into which a KPMG Australia partner uploaded a training course's reference manual to generate an answer to an internal exam question; KPMG's own AI-use monitoring detected the use (per the Australian Financial Review as relayed)","aiProduct":"Unidentified AI tool","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["professional_harm","financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A KPMG Australia partner was fined more than A$10,000 of future income, asked to redo the test and placed under a professional-body investigation after using an AI tool in an internal exam against firm rules, according to the Australian Financial Review as relayed by other outlets.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the partner who used the AI tool and was fined (AFR as relayed by HRD, the International Accounting Bulletin and Accounting Times). The other 27 staff KPMG caught are not counted because no individual consequence is reported for them.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"AU","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"internal_action","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/kpmg-partner-fined-for-using-ai-to-cheat-on-an-ai-test-20260215-p5o2f2","primarySourceLabel":"Australian Financial Review: KPMG partner fined for using AI to cheat on an AI test (15 Feb 2026)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-23T03:04:39.268108+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:04:39.268108+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["workplace","internal-exam","ai-policy-breach","fine","accounting","australia"]}]}