AI/Machine Learning

Data privacy regtech SecurePII lands $5 million Seed raise for global push

- October 31, 2025 2 MIN READ

Melbourne compliance and data privacy startup SecurePII  has raised US$3.5 million (A$5m) in Seed funding. The round was led by Sydney VC Tidal Ventures. SecurePII was founded by Jason Thals, Haydn Faltyn and Bill Placke, self-confessed skiers, mountain climbers, soccer players, cyclists, marathon runners, campers, golfers, paragliders and travellers who are “into motorbikes, sports cars, woodwork, Lego, science fiction,… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

Kiwi workplace feedback startup Huckleberry pockets NZ$2.1 million pre-Seed for US ambitions

- October 31, 2025 2 MIN READ

New Zealand voice-based 360 feedback platform, Huckleberry, has raised NZ$2.1 million ($1.84m) in pre-Seed funding. The round was led by US VC Oregon Venture Fund, with support from Archangel Ventures, plus US and NZ founders, including Mineral CEO Nathan Christensen, TradeMe’s Rowan Simpson and M-Com’s Serge Van Dam. Huckleberry enables people to talk rather than… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

OpenAI’s browser, Atlas, makes the privacy and security risks of using it your problem

- October 29, 2025 4 MIN READ

Last week, OpenAI unveiled ChatGPT Atlas, a web browser that promises to revolutionise how we interact with the internet. The company’s CEO, Sam Altman, described it as a “once-a-decade opportunity” to rethink how we browse the web. The promise is compelling: imagine an artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that follows you across every website, remembers your… Read more »

Microsoft
AI/Machine Learning

ACCC sues Microsoft, alleging it misled 2.7 million Australians on Microsoft 365 plans

- October 27, 2025 2 MIN READ

The competition regulator alleged Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plan subscribers were told to either pay higher prices for Copilot or cancel.

This was false or misleading, the ACCC claims, because there was an undisclosed third option for subscribers to keep their existing ‘classic’ plan, without Copilot or the markup in price.

The only way customers could find out about the ‘classic’ plans was when they opted to cancel their subscription because that was when a new page appeared offering the option to switch to the ‘classic’ plan instead.

Canberra
AI/Machine Learning

OpenAI just won a 2nd Australian government contract after being the only company invited to bid

- October 23, 2025 3 MIN READ

OpenAI is steadily embedding itself in the Australian government, with the US tech giant winning its second contract without any competition as the public sector is encouraged to embrace public generative AI tools. The Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) last week issued new guidance recommending agencies and departments be encouraged to use public generative AI tools… Read more »

Redactive AI co-founders Lucas Sargent, Andrew Pankevicius and Alexander Valente.
AI/Machine Learning

Ex-Atlassians score an exit for their AI data security startup after just two years

- October 21, 2025 2 MIN READ

Melbourne data security engineering platform Redactive AI has been acquired by pan-Pacific data management firm RecordPoint. The startup, cofounded by ex-Atlassians Andrew Pankevicius and Alexander Valente, plus AI Engineer Lucas Sargent, exits after just two years in business. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Their goal was to tackle the missing AI engineering… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

SXSW Sydney ends with AI optimism – from the company selling remedies to the pain they’re causing

- October 20, 2025 3 MIN READ

I’m personally pro-tech and use AI every day. I’m genuinely excited by progressive tools that expand what creators and businesses can do. But the pace of what’s happening — and how it’s being rolled out — has been eye-jarring: creators sidelined, copyright murky at best, implementation racing ahead of consent. Right now it feels like a land-grab: who can… Read more »

Scott Farquhar
AI/Machine Learning

Why the Tech Council’s ‘digital embassies’ idea surrenders Australian control of AI and data-centres to global tech giants

- October 20, 2025 3 MIN READ

When Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets US President Donald Trump on Monday, the visit is expected to seal major big tech investment deals on artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres. In the lead-up, Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar (in his role as chair of the Tech Council of Australia) has been pitching a plan to… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

Melbourne Uni spin-out PredicTx Health, an AI-powered oncology platform, raises $1.6 million pre-Seed

- October 17, 2025 2 MIN READ

PredicTx Health, a University of Melbourne spin-out that uses AI to personalise chemo dosing based on body composition analysis, has raised $1.6 million. The funding came from the University’s Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, a government grant and angel investment and will be used to commercialise a world-first AI-powered precision oncology platform. PredicTx was cofounded Professor Justin… Read more »

Firmus founders
AI/Machine Learning

Green-powered AI data centre plan goes national with $73.3 billion project across 4 Australian capitals

- October 16, 2025 2 MIN READ

Australian-founded AI infrastructure startup Firmus Technologies is heading to mainland Australia with a $73.3 billion plan in partnership with CDC Data Centres and Nvidia to build four more AI data centres in capital cities. The initial deal for Project Southgate – the plan to build an AI data centre in Tasmania – is worth $4.5 billion,… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

Australia’s large language model, Matilda, joins the global AI race, as Maincode’s Dave Lemphers outlines his national ambitions

- October 16, 2025 3 MIN READ

By the time I slipped into the packed SXSW Sydney expo theatre, the crowd was already deep in discussion. On stage, Dave Lemphers, cofounder and CEO of Maincode, sat alongside Dr Catherine Ball, steering one of the most grounded, technical and groundbreaking conversations of the festival: the debut of Matilda, Australia’s national large language model.… Read more »

Jamie Hall and Steve Hind
AI/Machine Learning

Why Lorikeet is one of Australia’s most important AI startups – and now outshining Canva

- October 13, 2025 2 MIN READ

Over the last couple of years, Canva has pushed hard into generative AI. It has become one of Australia’s best startup success stories. Yet, it’s another younger local AI player that is getting more spend from customers globally in the space.< Last week, Andreessen Horowitz’s new ‘AI Apps 50: Where Startups Spend on AI‘ list… Read more »