KPMG partner in Australia fined over using AI to pass AI test

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

A partner at KPMG Australia has been fined A$10,000 (€5,972) after using AI tools to cheat on an internal training course about using AI.

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.

More than two dozen staff have been caught over this financial year using AI tools for internal exams, according to KPMG.

The incident is the latest example of a professional services company struggling with staff using artificial intelligence to cheat on exams or when producing work for clients.

“Like most organisations, we have been grappling with the role and use of AI as it relates to internal training and testing,” said Andrew Yates, chief executive of KPMG Australia. “It’s a very hard thing to get on top of given how quickly society has embraced it.”

[ KPMG pressed its auditor to pass on AI cost savingsOpens in new window ]

He added: “Given the everyday use of these tools, some people breach our policy. We take it seriously when they do. We are also looking at ways to strengthen our approach in the current self-reporting regime.”

The world’s largest accounting body, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, scrapped remote tests late last year, saying its safeguards could not keep up with the “sophistication” of cheating systems. All of the Big Four accounting firms have been hit with fines over cheating scandals across multiple countries in recent years.

KPMG has adopted measures to identify the use of AI by its staff and will record how many of its workers have misused the technology when its publishes annual results, it said. The Australian Financial Review first reported that a KPMG partner had been fined over cheating on the AI test.

The issue was highlighted last week during a Senate inquiry into the governance of the industry when Barbara Pocock, an Australian Greens senator, asked about a “misdemeanour” at KPMG.

Pocock said it was “extremely disappointing” that further action had not been possible. “We’ve got a toothless system where con artists . . . get away with so much,” she said.

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.

Asic said audit firms were not obliged to report such misconduct as the onus is on individual partners to self-report to professional trade bodies. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026