In his speech, Farquhar said that AI tools need to change copyright laws to train Australian content such as books and articles, and noted that both the US and Europe have rules that are likely to allow such so-called data mining.
Farquhar also called on Australia to increase its investment in data centres.
Australia could be the data provider of choice for all governments in the region, and it says it's a “score” in most metrics tech giants like Amazon, Google and Facebook consider when choosing where to build their data centers.
“We're incredibly competitive [for] Building a data center,” he says.
Invited to Treasurer Jim Chalmers' productivity roundtable in August, Farker urged the government to open up bureaucratic processes such as housing approval to third parties.
“Council interactions, license renewals, passport applications and childcare subsidies should all be electronically enabled and incorporated into third-party applications,” he said.
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“Politicians, ministers and government department heads need to use AI every day to understand what is possible,” he said.
In an interview, Farker told the masthead that former Minister of Industry and Science Ed Fushik's axe from the federal cabinet was a major loss to the local sector.
Husic was dropped from the second ministry of Albanese in May amidst the factional competition.
“Ed was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the tech industry before it was cool, sexy, big and meaningful. He had a belief there. When you're a startup, the biggest thing you need is belief,” Farker said. “For over 10 years, it has always been advocated on our behalf.”
However, he supported the portfolio to appoint Andrew Charlton and Tim Ayers, saying they understand technology policy.
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