Australia risks hosting data centres, while losing access to the frontier AI technology they support unless the country changes their negotiating position and actively secures assurances a new report from the United States Studies Centre (USSC) at the University of Sydney warns.

In Sovereignty through managed dependence: Australia’s strategy for frontier AI access, author Hannah Merchant, Seasonal Fellow with the Centre for Governance of AI, notes that while Australia is a leading destination for data centres globally, it is at risk of being left behind on AI unless they pivot their AI strategy from pursuing self-sufficiency to accepting managed dependence.

“Australia will not be self-sufficient on AI, nor should it be,” USSC Director of Strategic Technologies Olivia Shen notes. “Australia should leverage their assets now to secure access assurances from the United States now rather than attempting to catch up and patch vulnerabilities after the fact.”

The report argues that “managed dependence” requires deliberate negotiation with the US Government, US labs and US data centre providers. To pursue this, Australia should strengthen their negotiating position through leveraging strategic assets, including access to critical minerals and land and Australia’s role as a trusted US ally.

Sovereignty through managed dependence: Australia’s strategy for frontier AI access is now available to view or download.

Read or download the report now

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Policy recommendations

Build the institutional architecture for managed AI dependence through negotiating formal access commitments:

  • Finalise negotiations of the US-Australia Technology Prosperity Deal as a strong political signal that Australia is a priority AI partner.
  • Negotiate Memoranda of Understanding with leading US labs that commit to frontier AI access terms.
  • Condition the United States’ data centre buildout in Australia on inference access commitments through the forthcoming Australian Standards for AI.

Strengthen Australia’s negotiating position by converting assets into cooperative leverage:

  • Secure a primary position in ex-China supply of processed gallium through enabling a second phase of Australia’s gallium program at Pinjarra.
  • Capitalise on Australia’s differentiated position as a close US ally with abundant land and energy resources to host compute infrastructure for training US frontier models.
  • Scope the mission of the Australian AI Safety Institute narrowly on national security evaluations situated in intelligence assessments of adversary capabilities. A broad mandate replicates functions the United States can source elsewhere; a narrow scope focuses limited resources on Australia’s comparative advantage.