Anthony Albanese says it\u2019s a lie he doesn\u2019t personally use AI, although for security reasons he cannot say for what. Speaking to The Saturday Paper, the prime minister dismisses Opposition Leader Angus Taylor\u2019s claim that he is out of touch with the technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do use AI. He\u2019s an idiot,\u201d the prime minister said on Thursday, adding: \u201cOne of the challenges here is that you need access to artificial intelligence to engage with some of the risks that are there from artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are elements of the emergence of AI that are unique, that present challenges that aren\u2019t the same as business as usual. They aren\u2019t the same as the cybersecurity issues that have been an issue for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Albanese says AI companies are very powerful and the technology is moving very, very fast. \u201cWhich is why we need a response to ensure sovereignty is protected, and to ensure engagement, and that is what we have been doing with companies like Anthropic and OpenAI.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prime minister is keen to make clear that he has met with AI executives. Most prominently, he signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei on\u00a0April 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve engaged with international partners,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve met with companies when they\u2019ve been here in Canberra and in Sydney, including Dario and others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Observers say these meetings point to the level of lobbying being undertaken by AI companies, borrowing from principles established by big tobacco. In Australia, that has involved hiring multiple Labor-linked staff. In America, it has involved multimillion-dollar donations to an already compliant administration.<\/p>\n
Ed Husic, who as former industry minister led the government\u2019s initial response to AI, says there is a huge asymmetry between the resources of the big AI companies and the expertise of government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe imbalance is massive and, as a result, it\u2019s like pushing against an open door,\u201d he tells The Saturday Paper. \u201cWhat we\u2019re witnessing is nothing more than a shock and awe lobbying approach by US tech, designed to swamp government decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n
An AI strategist who has worked inside and outside government made a similar point: \u201cThe amount of power these people have is incomprehensible \u2026 This isn\u2019t just a product that\u2019s being sold. This is dual-use capability. This is the equivalent of a private company developing nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
OpenAI established an office in Sydney last December, although its engagement with the government had started earlier. In June 2025, the company\u2019s chief economist, Ronnie Chatterji, a former Biden economic adviser, led a team that went to Canberra to meet government figures and senior bureaucrats. Chief strategy officer Jason Kwon came to parliament in mid September.<\/p>\n
Last year, OpenAI hired Kate Pounder to help establish the company in Australia. She left in December. Pounder was the inaugural chief executive of the peak industry body, the Tech Council of Australia, and a former business partner of assistant technology minister Andrew Charlton, who is central to the government\u2019s response to AI.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, she was appointed as a commissioner to South Australia\u2019s Royal Commission into Artificial Intelligence, along with Reserve Bank board member Iain Ross and Stanford University machine learning expert Christopher Manning.<\/p>\n
Charlton and Pounder founded AlphaBeta Advisors together, an economics firm sold to Accenture before Charlton entered parliament in 2022. Mandala Partners emerged from the advisory and now publishes AI-focused research commissioned by the tech sector.<\/p>\n
The Saturday Paper asked Charlton this week about the significant shift in personnel from government to work for the AI companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are focused on Australia\u2019s national interest. It\u2019s not about the personnel,\u201d the assistant minister said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about making sure that we are clear about what the criteria is for investment. That criteria prioritises Australia and Australians. And if the investment is within that criteria, then we welcome it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In March, Anthropic engaged Labor-aligned government relations and lobbying firm Anacta Strategies. Anacta\u2019s co-founders, Evan Moorhead and David Nelson, are both former senior Labor strategists. Moorhead was also a former Queensland state Labor MP and state secretary. Anacta directors include former ACT Labor secretary Ash van Dijk and former WA Labor chief of staff Craig Comrie. Anacta also represents social media giant TikTok in Australia.<\/p>\n
As well as Anacta, Anthropic engaged government relations firm SEC Newgate\u00a0 at the same time. It also hired AI adviser Carolyn Hough, who was appointed to the attorney-general\u2019s reference group on copyright and AI by the Albanese government in 2024, after serving on the Rudd government\u2019s Ministerial Advisory Consultative Group on Cybersafety.<\/p>\n
The same month, Amodei met with Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers, just ahead of opening the company\u2019s Sydney office in April.<\/p>\n