December 2, 2025
Australian Academy of Science President Professor Chennupati Jagadish AC said the Australian Government’s National AI Plan, announced today, highlights how AI can benefit Australians, including through innovation enabled by Australian science.
The Academy welcomes the launch of the Collaborative Research Centers Program’s “AI Accelerator” funding round. This provides a platform for many researchers to transform their ideas into real-world products.
Professor Jagadish said that advanced computing infrastructure and data centers are essential to advance AI research and its translation, but the plan is insufficient with only concrete actions regarding data centres.
“Australia certainly has a strong opportunity to become a data center hub. But AI capabilities go far beyond data centres. Australia becoming a regional hub for advanced computing will bring significant economic and social benefits, including providing opportunities for scientists and industry to innovate and compete globally.”
“The Academy acknowledges that the Government is working to map and assess the state of computing infrastructure. We urge the Government to turn that work into a 10-year strategy and investment plan for advanced computing and data, after the Independent Committee for Research and Development Strategic Review delivers its final report, expected later this month.”
“This plan highlights how AI can benefit Australians, from detecting lung cancer to improving educational outcomes. All of this progress comes from science.
“We must continue to support the basic research that underpins the next breakthroughs, so that Australians can fully benefit from advances in AI by creating new tools and adapting existing tools to Australian conditions.
“The Academy supports the idea that Australia can not only be a consumer of AI technology built in other countries, but also a leader in AI innovation and a trusted exporter of AI computing capabilities.”
Next week, the academy will publish a series of discussion papers on how AI will change science and research.
