Public archive from 10 MAY 2026; selected published work and related context.
Hi! Read: I found an AI slop book written about me Honestly, I don't think I've processed how weird this is. Anyway, enjoy! Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: Top OpenAI boss on hack apology tour 'can't explain' Australian AI distrust Kwon made the comments when I was interviewing him on the way out of the highly anticipated hearing. I asked him why Australians should feel comfortable with AI, and OpenAI's tech in particular, after the past few weeks and months of news of hacks and AI doomerism. Kwon said that Australians are among some of the highest adopters of AI in the world. That's true, I said, but Australians are also among the most distrustful. His answer was that he couldn't explain that lack of trust — just minutes after saying he was working to win back Australian trust — but pledged that OpenAI would get better. I thought it was an interesting blind spot given the company's Australian ambitions! Surely this dynamic would be on your radar, but it didn't seem to be something that he had an answer to. At least not at this point! Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: Australia not alone as OpenAI agents hacked other websites What fresh horror do we find out about today? Turns out Australia was one of a number of governments hacked by OpenAI's agents. Also, I've dug up some more info showing how the agents spent the better part of week trying to get into a government health website, and also tried to access the Department of Health and (lol) find out info about Sydney dog parks? Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: How OpenAI agents tried to thwart cybersecurity amid Medicare hack Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: AI companies would need to report ‘rogue’ incidents under proposed laws We’ve been waiting a while for some more details about how the federal government’s proposed national standards for AI companies and data centres. I was pleasantly surprised to see the inclusion of safety arrangements for frontier AI models -- something that experts had been banging on about but had not really been raised yet. Definitely one to watch! Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: Government documents reveal AI could train on data without paying creators Sorry! Forgot to send this yesterday. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: ‘The game is up’: Aussie professor at centre of AI maths controversy speaks out Tristan Buckmaster had some really interesting things to say -- and I think his experience neatly shows the advantages and perils of AI. He said AI has been of great assistance, but he’s worried about the conduct of the companies who control it. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: Bigger and hungrier: What we know about 25 proposed new data centres I wrote this because I think it makes clear how the speed of data centre development (and AI generally!) is just outpacing policy at the moment. Now, just because these data centres won’t be affected by the new rules doesn’t mean it’s completely the wild west. They will still have to abide by existing state laws, and may in fact meet the standards that will be set. But, when the government is saying these are needed for “social license”, it’s certainly newsworthy to point out that many of these projects that won’t be built for years into the future — and yet still won’t need to meet these minimum standards. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: Aussie startup cuts staff, pivots to US after $32m government outlay You may remember that I covered Harrison.ai back in 2024, specifically how they used <30 million medical scans that belonged to Australians without their knowledge to train their AI tools. (The Privacy Commissioner looked at Harrison.ai and I-MED, who provided the scans, and said they were satisfied that the de-identification meant that it didn’t violate Australian privacy law). Today’s report looks at how the company has laid off Australian staff and prompted others to choose to leave as it restructures the company around making every employee a “player-coach” of AI agents. It’s also launched a US affiliate that is hiring doctors directly to use its tools to do teleradiology. The company says those doctors are independent, but experts have raised concerns that a conflict of interest could affect patient care. If you know any more about this, I’d love to hear it! CW Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: Internal emails expose scale of Anthropic’s Australian AI plans This information about floated plans from Anthropic was just preliminary discussions from March, so I don’t suggest putting in too much stock in the exact number. What I think is really newsworthy about this is the ballpark of the number. 5GW is more than 3x Australia’s existing capacity. That’s the numbers that these major AI companies are looking at as they plan their futures, including whether to set up serious operations in Australia. Even before Australians can consider if they want that kind of capacity (and investment) and under what conditions, it’s an open question about how we’d be able to satisfy that demand. A lot of big decisions that need to be made based on projecting a new technology years, decades even, into the future. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: AI-generated music to be banned from ARIA charts Not long after a Australian producer’s Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ cover with AI-generated vocals rose up the charts in Australia, ARIA has decided to make make entirely and mostly AI-generated songs ineligible for its top music charts. While these rules didn’t go quite as far as some of the major labels have in the US — urging to exclude any song featuring AI tools that have been trained on copyright material without permission — it’s hard not to see it also as part of the overall fight between creatives and AI companies over the still unsettled issue of copyright. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips. I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! Read: AI companies ‘stole’ Australian culture, news bosses say Rare to get the heads of most of Australia’s major news and media orgs on the same panel last night, so was interesting to hear them answer questions about the state of the industry — and, naturally, how it’s being impacted by AI. My ears perked up when ABC managing director Hugh Marks said that the broadcaster had discussed the ABC’s radio and video archives with Anthropic. Both sides today poured cold water on it, saying that there was no current commercial negotiations. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips . I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Good morning! Read: One in 25 teens affected by AI-assisted online sexual abuse, study finds This research is the first nationally representative survey looking at the role AI is playing in online victimisation among young people. It contains some deeply shocking numbers. What stood out to me is how quickly a technology that’s only a few years old has become a major part of the abuse landscape for young people. One in four cases of non-consensual sexual image sharing for young Australians now involves AI (presumably produced by scungy “deepfake” or “nudify” apps). The study also sheds light on how often young people are turning to AI for help. It’s striking that children are now using AI to disclose abuse or seek support more than they are to authorities like the police. I think this speaks to the broader moment we’re in with AI. It’s now integrated into so many parts of our lives. On one hand, this technology is being misused in ways that create new harms and supercharge old ones. On the other, people are also turning to AI for support and guidance. There’s a complicated and nuanced conversation to be had about how we feel about people turning to AI rather than other people . I think many people would feel concerned if AI only functioned as a replacement for human support. But for some young people, it may provide access to support or a first point of disclosure when they don’t have trusted people or services available to them. It’s not in this study but, anecdotally, AI is also filling the gap, sometimes. The study makes one thing very clear: AI has crashed into every part of our lives, good and bad, and young people are on the front lines. Thanks CW! P.S. I love tips . I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi, I just published: Senior Albanese minister clashes with Pocock over top-secret AI copyright claim Sorry I’m too knackered to say much more but here’s the story! CW
Hi! I just published: Government agencies fail first hurdle under AI self-reporting policy A Friday treat off the back of the Four Corners report earlier this week about Australia’s approach to rules around AI. After last year’s election, the federal government did a U-turn and decided against EU style regulation with a central AI Act and broad rules for its use. Instead, it tasked all the government department and agencies with setting their own rules for AI. But around the same time, many of these agencies showed the flaws of this approach. Dozens of them failed at their first test of self-policing their own use by missing deadlines for disclosing how they use AI or who is responsible. While they’ve remedied this issue, it’s notable because the shows the potential issues with adding another issue to the already full plates of these government agencies — particularly for an issue that’s as complicated and fast moving as AI! Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips . I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hi! I just published As Elon Musk’s SpaceX goes public, Australian government officials are flagging Starlink’s risks . Later this week, Elon Musk’s SpaceX will go public. Naturally, there will be a lot of attention on how it could make Musk the world’s first trillionaire, or on whether the business fundamentals of SpaceX justify the valuation. What I’m interested in is a different question: what will Musk do with the tens of billions of dollars raised in the float? This story looks at how the Australian government is privately lagging the risks that Starlink presents to Australia — and how those risks could grow if SpaceX is even better resourced and Musk is even more insulated from consequences. Starlink is clearly a very useful business. Its ability to bypass government control was seen as a positive when people in Iran used it to stay in contact with the outside world during internet blackouts. But that same capability creates challenges for Australia’s ability to enforce laws and rules that govern how people use the internet and connect with each other. That is particularly important given Musk’s alleged history of using this capability to cut off or restrict service at his own whim, and his clashes with Australia and other Western governments that have chosen to regulate his companies. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips . I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hello! I just published: What do the pope and most Australians have in common? Neither trust AI companies As I get a feel for this beat, one thing has been coming up time and time again. I hear it from companies, politicians, academics, activists. AI is pretty unpopular. Obviously, there’s plenty of negative news coverage of it. But, still, for something that is promising so much, that is used by millions of Australians, I was surprised by just how poorly it is viewed. What I wanted to lay out is how this isn’t simply a comms problem, but a barrier based in people’s real experiences for an industry (and a government) that is asking the Australians to use their products, share their resources and even change their laws. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips . I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
Hiya! I just published Kate Conroy appointed inaugural general manager of Australian AI Safety Institute I’m pretty interested in the government’s yet-to-be-launched AI Safety Institute. For context, the federal government ditched plans for a dedicated AI Act, mandatory high risk guardrails for AI use or a independent regulator. Now, we’ve got a body that sits inside government, has no real powers, and a fairly modest budget that is supposed to contend with the enormous challenge of understanding cutting edge AI developments, testing, and advising how to avoid those risks. Even the decision about risks to focus on is fairly consequential: there’s current risks (everything from deepfakes to misinformation to intellectual property etc) to existential risk (SkyNet et al.). And then there’s the risk of potentially failing to seize promised benefits. Dr Kate Conroy has a long career working with government on how to use AI ethically. She’s very qualified. The choice to go with her, rather than someone from industry or someone with a real technical expertise, sends a message about what the government wants from this role. Thanks for reading and would love to hear if you have any thoughts. Thanks, CW P.S. I love tips . I also love hearing what people think about stories and can promise 100% confidentiality for anyone who contacts me. Message me on encrypted messaging app Signal or send me a secure email here .
G’day! I hope you don’t mind but I’m going to start using this list more regularly to send out my reporting (which, now in my new gig as the national AI reporter at the ABC, is no longer behind a paywall). Just in case, here’s an unsubscribe button if you’re not keen! unsubscribe So: plenty in my first reported article about how access to cutting edge AI models are new leverage for tech companies considering whether to set up major operations in Australia or other countries. The federal government is keen to get a company like Anthropic to make “major investments” here, according to a departmental briefing that I got via FOI, and has been willing to open up discussions about the AI’s company’s copyright problem. OK, enjoy! CW
Hello! I’m emailing to say that, after five unforgettable years at Crikey and 18 months at the Sizzle, I’ve taken on a new role as the ABC’s national AI tech reporter. It's a completely new position and, as far I know, the only reporting role of its kind in Australia. And what a beat it is! AI is one of the biggest stories in the world right now. There's an eye-watering amount of money, influence and hype involved which makes it ripe for critical, nuanced and innovative reporting. So: if you have a story involving how Australians and AI, I'm all ears: [email protected] . Or, you can contact me on secure email [email protected] or Signal @cmw.69 — confidentiality guaranteed! Cheers, Cam