Australia has set up a national Office of AI. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also promised new copyright protection for creatives, in a speech in Sydney.
Albanese announced the plan on Wednesday at the University of Sydney, the Guardian reported. His government billed it as a major speech on AI. It covered copyright, data-centre rules, and a new central office to coordinate AI policy.
The Office of AI will sit within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, with immediate effect. The government called Australia the first country to bring AI’s economic, social, security, and environmental issues under one framework.
The office will work with industry and innovation minister Tim Ayres and assistant science minister Andrew Charlton. It will design Australian AI standards and coordinate work across government.
Copyright and creatives #
On copyright, Albanese promised “the strongest possible protection” for Australian creatives. He said using their work to train AI without permission or payment would amount to theft.
“Let me make this crystal clear: not everything produced in Australia is up for grabs,” he said. “Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work.”
“No company should use Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the artist’s control,” he added. “Anything less is theft.”
The government has ruled out a text and data mining exemption. That rule would have let AI firms train models on Australian content without paying. Cabinet is still discussing copyright reform. The government will not legislate it until early next year.
New rules for data centres #
Albanese also set out binding national standards for data centres. The rules would cover where operators can build them and their power and water use. He said they should not compete with housing for land, or raise electricity prices for consumers.
The next generation of large centres would face a legal obligation to underwrite new power supply. They would pay their full share of grid connection, so no costs pass to homes or businesses. They would also have to put at least as much energy into the grid as they take out.
The facilities would have to generate renewable energy, cut water use, and lift energy efficiency. The government said the framework would fast-track investment decisions. It would also set nationally consistent rules on how and where operators build them.
Industry and political response #
Annabelle Herd, chief executive of the Australian Recording Industry Association, welcomed the speech. She said her members wanted to sign licensing deals with AI companies.
Jeff Bleich, general counsel at Anthropic, said the company respected the process the prime minister had set out. He said Anthropic took seriously its responsibility to meet the government’s terms. The firm had earlier cited Australia’s policy uncertainty as an impediment to investment in the national market.
Microsoft Australia president Jane Livesey said users would embrace AI if they trusted it was “safe and well-governed.” Bran Black, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, welcomed the speech. He warned against rules going “too far” and putting Australia out of step with other countries.
Former industry minister Ed Husic criticised the pace. On ABC radio, he said the government had responded faster to a food-tampering scare than to high-risk AI. “We can’t have two terms of parliament pass without having some concrete mandated guardrails,” he said.
Albanese compared the moment to the arrival of social media. He said governments should have set tougher rules on tech companies earlier. The government aims to legislate the changes early next year.
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