Anthony Albanese also installed an Office of AI in his department
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced the federal government’s intent to legislate standards it has set for data centres, including a requirement for large-scale data centres to replenish power they siphoned from the grid.
The Australian Financial Review reported that data centres will also be bound to power and water efficiency mandates to prevent the inflation of household utility bills. State and federal governments are pondering a requirement for data centre operators to grant communities financial incentives.
The government will introduce the legislation into parliament in the first half of next year. The prime minister will engage with state premiers and chief ministers to develop unified standards next month.
The federal government is also developing a novel solution to copyright concerns that would enable rights holders to decide whether their works can be used to train AI models as well as their compensation terms, Albanese revealed.
“Let me make this crystal clear: not everything produced in Australia is up for grabs. Not at all. Australian writers, musicians, artists and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work. Our laws will spell that out, plain as day”, the prime minister said in a statement published by the AFR. “No country has got this right yet. Nowhere do artists or rights holders have sufficient control of their work when it comes to AI training. That is why the best way to secure the strongest copyright protections for Australian artists is for Australia to be active and involved to build the best possible solution for ourselves”.
In his speech entitled AI in Australia’s interests, which was delivered at the University of Sydney earlier today, Albanese also announced that he had established an Office of AI in his department.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific slammed the government’s decision to delay the introduction of legislation regulating data centres to next year.
“The PM’s speech today shows that this government is kicking the can down the road, while Australians right around the country are calling for urgent regulations on AI data centres that are already being built in their backyard. We shouldn’t be talking about ‘faster decision making’ when there are no laws in place to protect our communities from this dangerous industry”, said Joe Rafalowicz, Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s climate and energy head, in a media release.
Rafalowicz called for a urgent moratorium on AI data centre approvals “until there are binding rules in place to protect our communities, our climate and our environment”.
“Big tech companies are looking to make Australia their second home, but in the US, AI data centres are wreaking havoc on people's health, drinking water and air by running their data centres on gas. They’ve set their own house on fire, and we shouldn’t be opening the door to let them do that here”, Rafalowicz said. “No new data centres should be approved until there are clearly defined, enforceable regulations in place, including requiring 100% additional renewable energy, that protect people, our climate and our environment - and absolutely no new fossil fuels like gas”.
