I was in the room on Wednesday when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outlined Australia’s national approach to AI. New Australian standards for AI. Regulations requiring operators to underwrite new power supply, grid connections, firming capacity, and minimise water use. A mandate that new infrastructure won’t increase power prices for Australians is being legislated next year. It was more specific than many expected, and in my opinion, well overdue.That evening I was in a different, equally important room – a regional community hall in South Australia that will host part of what we’re building. Many questions on water, noise, and what a facility of this scale brings. These are the questions that have shaped how we are building our AI factories, but a community shouldn’t have to take our word for it. That’s where good regulation does its heavy lifting. And it brought me back to the question from the morning: how are we, as an industry, going to measure whether we’re doing this well?Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Fetching latest articles
Australia is racing to build AI. Are we measuring the right things?
The components that go into an AI factory, and where they are made, matter. That is the difference between building an AI industry and merely hosting one.










