Australia's new AI plan reportedly includes exemption for around 30 data centers

Politico's Canberra Playbook newsletter, covering Australian politics, reports that leaders in the country's artificial intelligence industry are urging the government to slow down, even as officials continue building out the basic framework for AI regulation. According to the newsletter, Australia's newly unveiled AI plan contains an apparent loophole that could exempt as many as 30 data centers from stricter requirements otherwise being placed on the sector.

Other items in the roundup

The same newsletter briefly touches on several other developments in Australian domestic politics. It notes that the governing Labor party is citing unreliable or inappropriate figures in an attempt to demonstrate progress on border control. It also references a dispute between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and politician Pauline Hanson over housing policy, describing how Albanese's response shifted the confrontation away from housing substance and toward the tone of the exchange itself.

The roundup additionally flags an interview with Senator David Shoebridge, though no details of that conversation's content are provided in the available text.

Politico presents these items as the day's key storylines in federal Australian politics, but the source material offers no further specifics — such as which officials or documents are behind the reported AI plan exemption. The piece is part of a regular newsletter aimed at subscribers following political developments in Canberra.