Albanese has expressed the intention to ban the installation of large data centers near educational institutions. This stance was presented during a meeting held on Wednesday with the country's state leaders, as reported by AFP.
Additionally, the government committed to implementing legislation regarding artificial intelligence (AI). This new law aims to regulate the use of these technologies through guidelines related to security and intellectual property, informed an anonymous source to AFP.
In December, Australia reached the milestone of being the first country globally to restrict access for users under 16 to social media networks, although this measure has shown varied results.
The state of New South Wales, which is the largest in Australia, has already announced that it will assess the feasibility of twenty-six new data center projects, totaling an investment of one hundred billion Australian dollars (equivalent to sixty-one billion and forty million euros).
Over the last three years, the construction of such infrastructure has grown by 65% in this state, which currently hosts ninety of these facilities. However, a specific proposal to build one of these structures in a protected area near a school was canceled in June after generating controversy.
It is expected that Albanese will advocate for the adoption of national standards that establish limits on water and energy consumption by data centers. He should also seek to mitigate the impact of these installations on residents by proposing rules that require centers to be located far from schools, residences, high-quality agricultural land, or areas with potential for residential development.
On the other hand, the American startup Anthropic exerted pressure on Australian authorities to modify copyright legislation, aiming to facilitate the training of AI models, which triggered a strong reaction from both the media and the artistic sector.