Wait for it… is the message from Australia’s prime minister on new AI legislation to protect creative and control data centres.
And not everyone is happy, despite what they are saying.
Jeff Bleich the former US ambassador to Australia and Obama White House special counsel who is now general counsel for AI giant Anthropic, for example, has vowed to “take seriously” the new demands for AI companies.
Anthony Albanese declared modestly that not everything in Australia was “up for grabs”.
“Australian writers, musicians, artists, and journalists must retain ownership and control of their work,” he said. “Our laws will spell that out, plain as day.
And: “No company should use Australian books, music, art or news to build or train AI without the artist’s control. And that includes the artist’s control of the price and value of their work. Anything less is theft.”
But the claim that “no country has got this right yet”, is omnious, Meaning perhaps the agenda may have changed by the time legislation comes to parliament, “early next year”.
Albanese is establishing an ‘Office of AI” in his department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, “will work closely” with a list of other ministers and assistant ministers, and “will seek agreement” of state premiers and chief ministers at a national cabinet meeting next month.
A set of “Australian standards” for artificial intelligence will be legislated “to build confidence and trust in AI”, bit it will not be an attempt to legislate for “every possible eventuality or risk”.
The initial reaction from creative has been welcoming, but detail is still missing.
Among them, lifestyle publisher Man of Many’s Scott Purcell urged that compensation should be tied to verified use of a publisher’s work, “not paid out as a lump sum to whoever has the scale to negotiate the biggest deal.
“That's true of a distribution scheme, and it's equally true of an AI licensing arrangement,” he said.
Ahead of the prime minister’s announcement a statement for Country Press Australia urged quick action to establish clear licensing rules, transparency over what content has been used, and fair compensation for both past and continuing use. “Australia should welcome AI development and new technology infrastructure,” life member Paul Thopmas said. “But investment cannot become leverage to weaken copyright protections or avoid paying the people whose work helped create that value.”