Details
- Date Published
- 4 June 2026
- Priority Score
- 4
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 4 June 2026, 12:01 am
Description
Four Corners is the home of Australian investigative journalism.
Summary
This investigative report examines the rapid acceleration of frontier AI systems toward human-level performance and the resulting challenges for democratic oversight. It highlights specific risks associated with increasing software autonomy, where AI models can independently formulate plans and execute actions without human intervention. The investigation critically evaluates Australia's recent retreat from stringent AI safety regulations at a time when global tech giants are aggressively lobbying for local data center expansion and investment. By connecting localized environmental impacts to global existential concerns regarding uncontrollable systems, the report underscores the tension between harvesting economic productivity and mitigating catastrophic systemic risks.
Body
VIDEO: The AI RaceFour CornersThu 4 Jun 2026 at 9:31amThu 4 Jun 2026 at 9:31amThu 4 Jun 2026 at 9:31amHas Video Duration: 30 seconds.Watch 30sAs the world's most powerful AI companies seek to invest billions in Australia, Four Corners asks: who controls our future? (Four Corners)Share optionsFacebookLinkedInX (formerly Twitter)Artificial intelligence is already changing how we live and work, while being sold as the technology that could cure disease, transform productivity and solve some of the world's biggest problems.Four Corners reporter Steve Cannane investigates the race to build ever more powerful AI systems and asks whether it is moving faster than governments and communities can keep up with.Filmed in the United States and Australia, the program goes inside the global battle between the world's most powerful technology companies as they spend huge amounts of money building systems some say could one day outperform humans.Four Corners meets Bay Area tech workers who say AI has already upended their careers, experts who warn of systems that are becoming harder to control, and campaigners fighting the growing power of big tech companies.The story also takes a look at the next generation of AI models; software that can take instructions, make plans and act with increasing autonomy. Some in Australia are now asking what happens if these systems are deployed without adequate safeguards.Four Corners also digs into the physical footprint needed for the AI boom. Across America, communities are pushing back against the rapid construction of data centres, raising concerns about noise, pollution, water and energy use.Now, Australia is being courted as a key destination for major AI and data centre investment. The program examines deals, lobbying and policy shifts as global tech giants promise innovation, scientific progress and productivity gains. Critics warn Australia has retreated from tougher AI safety regulation at the very moment the technology is accelerating.As the world's most powerful AI companies seek to invest billions in Australia, Four Corners asks: who controls our future?Four Corners: The AI Race is reported by Steve Cannane and produced by Lesley Robinson and goes to air on Monday, June 8 from 8:30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.