‘Turning point’: Anthropic’s Australian ambitions collide with copyright wall
Anthropic’s Australian AI ambitions depend on a massive expansion of local data centre capacity — and copyright changes the government has ruled out.
The nation’s data centre lobby has described Anthropic’s colossal demand for compute as a turning point for Australia’s fledgling AI sector, even as the government ruled out copyright law changes that would be needed for the Claude maker to train its models locally.
Belinda Dennett, chief executive of industry lobby group Data Centres Australia, said Anthropic’s reported demand for 1.4 gigawatts of capacity from local operators — equivalent to almost the entire existing Australian industry — underscored the country’s credentials as an AI hub, but cautioned the investment might not proceed.
“This would be a significant step-change in demand and goes to Australia’s growing appeal as a home for digital infrastructure,” Dennett told Capital Brief.
“What decides whether investment of that scale proceeds is practical: firmed energy supply, the speed of grid connections, and planning approvals.”
