Pocock Presses Albanese on AI Training Plan Ahead of July 15 Datacentre Decision

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 23

David Pocock used Senate question time to press the Albanese government to rule out letting tech giants use Australian content to train AI models, saying ministers had not clearly excluded the option.
July 15 emerged as a possible decision point after Pocock said Albanese was preparing an AI package that could pair faster datacentre approvals and investment with copyright changes.
Cabinet is weighing rival approaches, with departments split between new copyright exemptions tied to Australian-hosted datacentres and a licensing extension that would let AI companies train commercial models on local content.
Tim Ayres rejected claims of a text-and-data-mining carveout, said the government would not undermine copyright protections, and accused Pocock of reckless speculation.
The fight is widening beyond copyright: Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young called for a moratorium on new datacentres until rules on AI, energy, water use and creator protections are tightened.