Australia AI, data-center inquiry to weigh investment conditions, moratorium
By Saloni Sinha ( September 17, 2026, 09:11 GMT | Insight) -- Australian lawmakers will hear competing proposals next week on how to manage the country’s rapidly expanding AI and data-center sector, ranging from stronger conditions on investment to a temporary moratorium on major new projects. Accenture and the University of New South Wales have called for AI infrastructure investment to deliver greater public and sovereign benefits, while Electronic Frontiers Australia has urged a pause on major projects and government agreements until binding safeguards are in place. The hearings come as Anthropic has signed a lease for the first stage of a new data-center campus in Queensland.Australia should attach stronger conditions to its rapidly expanding artificial-intelligence and data-center sector, stakeholders have told a parliamentary inquiry ahead of hearings next week, although they differ sharply over whether new investment should continue while regulation catches up....
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