The Trump administration’s recent decision to block foreign access to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models has reignited AI sovereignty debates – where nations strive to build and maintain their own AI, rather than using models developed elsewhere.
Recently, Defence Minister Richard Marles weighed in, telling a defence conference that Australia should “build some agency” in relation to AI.
But what does such “agency” look like? Australia can’t brute force its way to frontier AI capability. The costs are prohibitive and Australia has few natural advantages.
Instead, the immediate priority should be influencing how the United States shares AI models with allies for collective benefit.
What’s frontier AI?
