Today, Anthropic signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Australian Government to collaborate on AI safety research and support the goals of the Australian National AI Plan. Our CEO, Dario Amodei, met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during a visit to Canberra, Australia, to formalize the agreement. We also announced A$3 million in partnership with Australia’s leading research institutions to use Claude to improve disease diagnosis and treatment and support computer science education and research.
At the heart of this MoU is a commitment to work with the Australian AI Safety Institute. We will share findings on the capabilities and risks of emerging models, participate in joint safety and security assessments, and collaborate on research with Australian academic institutions. This mirrors agreements with safety agencies in the US, UK and Japan to provide early access and the sharing of technical information to help governments build their own views on where the frontier of AI is headed and AI developers to make their models more secure. Under this MOU, we will share Human Economic Index data with the Australian Government to track how AI is being deployed across the economy, its economic impact, and its impact on workers. We will begin by focusing on sectors important to the Australian economy, including natural resources, agriculture, healthcare and financial services. As part of this, we will develop ways to drive AI education and training within our workforce. Our recent economic data shows that Australians are already using Claude for a wider range of tasks than most countries (the most diverse of any English-speaking country), using advanced prompts and working with AI to accomplish highly skilled tasks, from management, sales and business operations to life sciences and everyday use. Finally, in line with Australia’s National AI Plan, we are looking to invest in data center infrastructure and energy across the country in line with the government’s recently announced data center expectations.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said: “Australia’s investment in AI safety makes it a natural partner for responsible AI development. This MOU provides a formal basis for our cooperation.” “I am particularly excited about the work that Australian research institutions will be doing in collaboration with Claude to advance disease diagnosis and treatment.”
Extending AI for science to Australia’s research and innovation sector
At Anthropic, we believe that AI has the potential to significantly accelerate scientific progress. To this end, we are expanding our AI for Science program to Australia, starting with an investment of A$3 million in Claude API credits to four institutions applying AI to some of humanity’s most pressing challenges. New partnerships with the Australian National University, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Garvan Medical Research Institute and Curtin University will support areas such as clinical genomics, precision medicine, pediatric medical research and computing education.
A multidisciplinary team at the ANU John Curtin School of Medical Research is using Claude to analyze genetic sequence data to help tackle rare diseases. The ANU School of Computing is also incorporating Claude into a new course to train Australia’s next generation of developers and scientists.
The Garvan Institute of Medical Research will utilize Claude to accelerate genomic discovery in two major research projects. First, in partnership with UNSW, we will build a system that translates human genetic variation into insight into how diseases act in specific cell types, with the aim of identifying new treatments. The second is a collaboration with the Center for Population Genomics, a joint initiative between Garvan and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, to automate complex genetic analyzes that are currently the main bottleneck in diagnosing children with rare genetic diseases. Separately, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute will also apply Claude to its stem cell medicine program to improve the identification of therapeutic targets for pediatric heart disease.
Finally, the Curtin Institute for Data Science, Australia’s largest university-based data science research institute, will utilize Claude in collaborations with academic research institutions and research projects across health sciences, humanities, business, law, science and engineering.
On Monday, the company also announced the launch of its first deep tech startup API credit program for venture capital-backed startups working in areas such as drug discovery, materials science, climate modeling, and medical diagnostics where AI can have a major impact. Eligible companies will receive up to US$50,000 (approximately AU$72,000) in API credits to build with Claude, as well as resources and community support as they build their local teams.
These investments reflect the advanced work that Australian researchers and start-ups are already conducting with Claude and directly contribute to supporting the goals outlined in Australia’s National AI Plan.
The visit to Australia marks the beginning of long-term cooperation and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing more details about our local team and leadership as we prepare to open our Sydney office. You can read more about the Australian Government’s MOU with Anthropic here.
