Microsoft, Anthropic CEOs Court Australia for AI Data Centers as Canberra Weighs A$3 Trillion-Style Returns
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 22
Microsoft, Anthropic CEOs Court Australia for AI Data Centers as Canberra Weighs A$3 Trillion-Style Returns
6 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 22
Canberra is being pitched as a new base for Microsoft and Anthropic AI data centers as the companies seek secure, politically stable sites to train large models.
US resistance to data centers' heavy power and water use is pushing AI groups to hunt for locations with abundant land, renewable energy and social acceptance—advantages Australia could offer.
The debate in Australia is shifting from whether to host the facilities to what terms to demand, including copyright payments, creator reparations and licensing for training data.
A Norway-style sovereign wealth model is being floated so Australia captures ongoing profits from AI trained locally, rather than relying only on taxes; Norway's fund is now worth more than A$3 trillion.
That approach would frame AI infrastructure as a new resource industry—potentially a green export business—but one requiring upfront rules before investment locks in.
Can Australia demand a cut of AI profits without driving away the very investment it seeks to attract?
With AI trained on scraped data, can Australia truly deliver financial justice to millions of global creators?