Anthony Albanese’s Office of Artificial Intelligence is welcome but should have happened sooner, crossbench and opposition MPs say.The Prime Minister will on Wednesday use a speech in Sydney to tout the new office, nestled within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, as a world-leading approach to AI.“Getting this right will enhance our appeal to international investors by delivering greater clarity and speed for approvals and a streamlined process for verifying compliance,” Mr Albanese will say, according to advanced extracts of his speech.“It also imposes an important discipline on government.“AI touches on the work of every minister and department, so it is only natural that, up until now, our response has been issue by issue, sector by sector.”Community Strong Australia MP Allegra Spender applauded the move but said it should have come sooner.“Frankly, I wish they had done this earlier,” Ms Spender told Nine’s Today.“We don’t want to just be takers of technology from overseas, but there’s also a lot of concern out there, whether it be on data centres, whether it be on privacy, whether it be on protecting our kids and things like deepfakes.“So I think it is appropriate that the government takes this on more actively.”Opposition digital economy spokesman Aaron Violi struck a similar, albeit more critical tone, saying it was “too late”.“This office should have been put in three years ago,” he told Sky News.“The reality is, the Prime Minister has failed to lead.”Mr Violi took aim at the little detail released ahead of the office’s formal unveiling and accused the government of swinging between heavy handed over-regulation and “a light touch approach” that has caused “complete chaos”.“We’ve now got the PM saying: ‘Look, I’m going to step in and show leadership’.“He should have shown leadership three years ago because it has impacted Australians for the last three-to-four years.”From what is known of Mr Albanese’s plan, the office will work closely with Industry Minister Tim Ayres and Assistant Minister Andrew Charlton, who will co-design new Australian standards for AI.However, there will be input from across portfolios, including the Attorney-General’s Department for copyright protections and Defence and Home Affairs for national security.More to comeRead related topics:Anthony Albanese