The Western Australian government has requested an "expedited" cost recovery from consulting firm Deloitte following the discovery of errors in a A$166,000 report commissioned for a potential university merger. The report, which explored the feasibility of combining the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, and Murdoch University, contained references generated by artificial intelligence that did not exist, alongside hundreds of millions of dollars in cost discrepancies.Deloitte acknowledged using generative AI to "support the collation of research, synthesis of information and editorial proofing" within the report. The firm initially described the errors as "minor" after critics, including a Reddit post, first highlighted the made-up references earlier in October. However, further scrutiny by Guardian Australia revealed substantial numerical inaccuracies in the report's appendix. For instance, one calculation for a Curtin and UWA merger showed a total of A$399 million, when the sum of the listed costs was A$659 million, a difference of A$260 million. Another discrepancy involved a total of A$823 million, where the correct sum should have been A$512 million, an overstatement of A$311 million.A spokesperson for the Western Australian government's Department of Energy and Economic Diversification confirmed that the department has written to Deloitte to accelerate the cost recovery process. Despite the errors, government officials have stated that the report's modeling and findings remain unaffected, and Deloitte will correct and reissue the document. However, Professor Christian Downie of the Australian National University's school of regulation and global governance, who has previously examined government submissions containing AI hallucinations, suggested that the errors are so extensive a new report might be necessary. He also emphasized the need for greater transparency regarding how AI is used in report writing, particularly concerning data collection.This incident marks a repeated issue for Deloitte in Australia. In 2025, the firm agreed to a partial refund to the Australian federal government for another A$440,000 report that also contained AI-generated errors. Rival consulting firms KPMG and PwC have also encountered similar problems with AI-assisted reports this year. The Western Australian government stated it would consider the corrected study alongside other available data and new information when making a decision on the university merger.