New set of standards to provide rules for data centers, minimum water usage, underwrite or supply their own power
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday rolled out a framework for his country’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI), saying AI would become central to Australia’s productivity, economic resilience, and sovereign capability.
In an address at the University of Sydney, Albanese outlined a new set of standards for AI that will provide rules for data centers, forcing them to minimise water usage and underwrite or supply their own power, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The AI companies, he added, would not be able to use Australian books, music, art, or news to train AI “without the artist’s control”.
The prime minister will seek agreement from state premiers and territory chief ministers over the new set of standards at a Cabinet meeting next month.
Warning that Australia has a narrow window to set AI’s “social license,” he acknowledged gaps and risks in the currently fragmented approach to the technology.
“Australia has an opportunity to establish AI’s social license before major investments become entrenched, acknowledging the government could not wait until companies had already built data centers before negotiating conditions,” he added.
Albanese assured Australian musicians, writers, and artists that they would maintain control over their work and get to name the price in any copyright deals with AI companies.
His speech, however, did not include cogent announcements related to AI-specific legislation, funding, tax incentives, copyright, consumer rules, or workplace rights, with specific measures expected to come following consultation.
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But he confirmed he would seek state and territory agreement for “clear, consistent, and mandatory” data centres at next month’s Cabinet meeting over the new set of standards.
Legislation for these standards would then be brought to parliament early next year.
Currently, South Australia is the only state with a dedicated data centre framework.
The prime minister warned tech companies that while the government would cooperate with sharing factual information, “not everything produced in Australia is up for grabs”.
“No company should use Australian books, music, art, or news to build or train AI without the artist’s control, and that includes the artist’s control of the price and value of their work,” he said.
A new “Office of AI” to sit within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is being established to coordinate work already underway across education, employment, climate, and energy, copyright and defense portfolios, he maintained.
“We should not treat AI as a threat to good jobs, we must use it as an instrument to help create them,” he observed.