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Government Abandons Controversial Artificial Intelligence Plan in Media Showdown

The Australian Financial Review

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Date Published
17 Sept 2026
Priority Score
3
Australian
Yes
Created
18 Sept 2026, 12:00 am

Authors (2)

Description

A proposal that would give AI giants free rein to train their models on copyright-protected work appears to have been abandoned by the attorney-general.

Summary

The Australian government has reportedly abandoned a proposal that would have granted AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic broad rights to train models on copyright-protected Australian content. This policy pivot follows intense pushback from domestic media and creative industries regarding compensation for intellectual property used to develop frontier AI capabilities. While primarily focused on copyright and economic incentives, the decision reflects broader governance tensions in managing the data pipelines necessary for advanced AI development. This development is a key indicator of Australia's evolving regulatory stance on how large-scale model training interacts with national creative and economic frameworks.

Body

TechnologyAIPrint articleZoe Samios and Sam Buckingham-JonesSep 17, 2026 – 9.35amA controversial proposal to give artificial intelligence giants such as OpenAI and Anthropic free rein to train their models on Australian copyright-protected work if they signed a minimum number of commercial deals appears to have been ditched, after it was left out of a Thursday afternoon showdown with content owners.Australia’s biggest media and creative industries and the Attorney General’s Department held a 90-minute virtual meeting on Tuesday to discuss how news organisations and creative industries should be compensated by AI giants who used their content.Loading...SaveLog in or Subscribe to save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? LoginLicense articleRead MoreAIOpenAIMichelle RowlandAnthropicCopyrightFetching latest articles