Australian Prime Minister Albanese gave a speech in Sydney on the 15th, announcing the establishment of an artificial intelligence (AI) office within the federal government and the establishment of a set of national standards on artificial intelligence.
Albanese said in his speech that “every country in the world” is responding to the challenges posed by AI, and Australia will incorporate these issues into a “national framework”. He mentioned that in the past, the Australian government responded to AI based on different issues by different departments, but now through the establishment of an AI Office, the government will develop coordinated responses. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, this office will be located within the prime minister and cabinet.
“Let me make this clear: not all products produced in Australia are freely accessible. Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control over their works. Our laws will state this word for word,” Albanese said.
Previously, there were reports that U.S. technology giant Anthropic had proposed using Australia as a training base for its artificial intelligence model Claude, but it was unwilling to comply with existing laws to negotiate and pay royalties for products such as Australian music and books.
The Guardian said Albanese‘s speech also ruled out the possibility of large companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic using Australian data for free, a move that was welcomed by industry figures.
Albanese also mentioned in the speech the AI-related work that has been advancing within the federal government, including significantly strengthening response and protection to national security risks. He said that this year‘s defense strategy lists AI and machine learning as the areas with “most technological disruptive potential” that Australia will face in the coming years.
In response to the Albanian government‘s new initiative, Taylor, the leader of the Australian opposition party, criticized Albania for not focusing on substantive issues. He said: “Australia originally had enormous opportunities to improve the level of national prosperity, improve the standard of living, income and wages of its people by enhancing competitiveness. If your only answer to this is to create more jobs in your own office, then this is not an answer.”
Albanese did not discuss the specific details of AI-related funding, tax incentives, consumer rules, and labor rights issues this time, and is expected to come up with measures after seeking opinions.