Anthony Albanese signals crackdown on data centres, energy usage and water consumption

Labor and the union movement have joined to send a firm message to corporate Australia that widespread job cuts will not be tolerated in the AI revolution, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese forces tech behemoths to supply their own water and energy to fuel the data centre gold rush.

In an attempt to grab hold of the fast-moving debate on AI’s transformative prospects, Albanese used a speech at Sydney University to say the nation could not “turn back the clock” on the technology, insisting he would not give up the rights to Australian music and publishing content to US firms wanting to train their models. He argued such a move would amount to “theft” and flagged a novel solution to allow firms to pay for material.

The prime minister’s speech argued that AI was a more profound development than social media, as New York became the first US state to put a moratorium on data centres and the Australian housing sector warned construction resources were being diverted away from home building.

A year after Labor walked away from creating an AI act, Albanese flagged laws regulating the new frontier will be introduced early next year.

“We want AI to support and create good jobs, not replace them,” Albanese declared, a week out from a Labor Party conference at which unions will pressure him to shield workers from redundancy.

“Our great country can be much more than a data warehouse for AI products made overseas. We cannot settle for a short-term boom in capital expenditure.

“We can lead in everything from cybersecurity and biotechnology to advanced manufacturing. We must create a new generation of good, secure jobs.”

His rhetoric in a highly anticipated speech is a sign Labor is prepared to use industrial laws to help augment the workforce with AI rather than upend it. He delivered the speech a day after 200 leading US economists warned that the new computing transformation could be as severe as the Industrial Revolution unfolding over a much shorter timeframe.

Australian Council of Trade Unions leader Sally McManus backed the prime minister on Wednesday afternoon, revealing that she had been lobbying Labor to clarify workplace laws to make clear that companies must consult unions before technologies are introduced in the workforce, not after a decision to lay off workers.

She said that if companies thought, “Yeah, we’ll just get rid of people and replace them … in Australia” then “they’ve got another thing coming for them”.

Earlier on Wednesday, deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume warned about the prospect of greater powers for unions, setting up brawls on industrial policy and the AI legislation that Labor wants to introduce next year.

Tech giants willing to play by new rules

Australia, Albanese said, had to act quickly to maintain community support for data centres and to make sure workers were assisted rather than replaced, adding that rules for data centres would create certainty and allow more investment, attempting to strike a balance between attracting companies and ameliorating anxiety.

The government hopes to next year introduce laws that would set minimum requirements for firms building data centres, which have propped up business investment and growth in an otherwise flat economy.

Albanese said the computing factories used to power AI models should not compete with housing developers for land. Firms must pay for energy to offset their own electricity usage and build water facilities, he added.

The government had previously suggested these contributions but not enforced them. But Labor is now more attuned to local blowback and MPs’ concerns about big tech firms competing for resources.

As One Nation starts to campaign against data centres, Albanese pledged to ensure they “do not increase power prices for Australians”.

Two of the biggest tech companies, Anthropic and OpenAI, welcomed Albanese’s speech and pledged to work with the government on its commitment to strict rules on AI development.

“Anthropic has been clear for some time that societal-level solutions are needed for AI,” said Anthropic general counsel Jeff Bleich.

An OpenAI spokesperson said the company would engage constructively “on an approach that is practical, sustainable and right for Australia”.

Seeking a copyright solution

The standoff between Anthropic and the Albanese government over access to copyrighted content has not been settled, but the prime minister used his firmest language yet on Australia’s intent to protect artists. There have been mixed views inside the government about a copyright exemption for AI, but Labor’s position had hardened after an energetic lobbying campaign from artists.

Albanese’s cabinet is discussing ways to get US firms to pay for content such as songs and books. Anthropic wants access to Australian material in exchange for ploughing billions into Australia as its second home for training its language models.

The prime minister signalled Labor wanted a new model that would allow creatives to choose whether their works would be used to train AI and how they are paid.

“No company should use Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the artist’s control. That includes the artist’s control of the price and value of their work,” he said. “Anything less, is theft.”

Matt Stanton, chief executive of Nine, which owns this masthead, said Albanese sent an unequivocal message that publishers retained a right to decide how their content is used. “As Nine has illustrated with its recent AI licensing agreement with Microsoft, we are open for business and ready to do deals that recognise the value of our journalism,” Stanton said.

News Corp boss Michael Miller said Labor had “set out a path for Australia to lead the world in AI innovation, infrastructure and intellectual property” and urged the government to move quickly.

States need to buy in

NSW Premier Chris Minns welcomed the proposed AI framework but stressed communities’ rights must be ensured. “We need to get the settings right,” he said.

The rules for data centres would have to be ratified by premiers and chief ministers, who oversee planning approvals, at a meeting of the national cabinet next month. Conservative governments of Queensland and Tasmania may baulk at any requirements to pressure data centre firms to build renewables ahead of other forms of energy.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black warned against over-regulation but said he would wait to see what was contained in Labor’s regulation.

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