The NSW Government’s Investment Delivery Authority (IDA) has received 48 major investment proposals worth $136 billion in just 10 weeks since it opened the first round of expressions of interest. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced IDA in the June budget, setting aside $17.7 million to get it up and running to “cut through red tape” and… Read more »
A Brisbane startup developing hydrogen-powered aircraft engines and hypersonic Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has raised $46 million in a Series A as NASA prepares to test its 3D-printed ideas. The round for Hypersonix Launch Systems was led by UK national security investor High Tor Capital, with support from European defence company Saab and Polish family office RKKVC,… Read more »
The Victorian government is investing $75 million across five specialist venture capital firms. The funding, via Breakthrough Victoria, will go to VCs backing climate-tech, life sciences, and female founders, as well as a cornerstone investment in an unnamed US specialist healthcare fund manager as they launch their first Australian fund. All five have committed to… Read more »
After a decade of work, the federal government has committed to finalising formal road rules, regulations, and technical and cybersecurity standards for self-driving cars by 2027, even as autonomous vehicles are already on Australian roads. The new National Road Transport Technology Strategy (NRTTS), including the 2024-27 National Connected and Automated Vehicle (CAV) Action Plan nationwide framework, replaces National Land… Read more »
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 »
The CEO of industry lobby group the Tech Council of Australia, Damian Kassabgi, is tossing in his job after less than two years in the role to focus on his young family, based in Northern NSW. Kassagbi, a former Afterpay, Google and Uber executive who took over from inaugural CEO Kate Pounder, now at OpenAI,… Read more »
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 »
FinTech Australia has warned that financial and other digital technologies risk being unintentionally excluded from future innovation funding unless explicitly recognised in the federal government’s current Strategic Examination of Research and Development (R&D). The fintech peak body argue its case in a submission to the R&D review’s expert panel, led by Tesla chair Robyn Denholm,… Read more »
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 »
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke on Thursday will outline new powers to combat money laundering, terrorism financing and crime risks associated with cryptocurrency and Crypto ATMs. AUSTRAC, Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulator, estimates 85% of the transactions sent by the top users of Crypto ATMs comes from the proceeds of scams or money-mule… Read more »
Google has strongly criticised Australia’s impending ban of under-16s holding social media accounts after its popular video streaming platform YouTube was added to the ban following a federal government backflip. YouTube was expected to be exempt from the nation’s social media age ban, set to begin on 10 December, after the legislation was first introduced by the… Read more »
Federal treasurer Jim Chalmers has abandoned plans to tax the unrealised gains of large superannuation balances, a controversial move that raised alarm bells for investors in early-stage startups. The change ends fears that angel investors, who often back startups from self-managed super funds (SMSFs) would vanish had the government implemented the new rule as part… Read more »
Artwork created by generative AI (genAI) and other software could be eligible for copyright protection, after a seven-year legal battle ended with a Federal Court ruling that gaming giant Aristocrat can patent game features created by its software without human input. The latest ruling – which follows years of appeals and counter-appeals between Aristrocrat and… Read more »
Balancing the merits of artificial intelligence with the risks it poses to workers and creatives is a debate which rages on, all while major US tech companies ramp up their public relations campaigns — warning of the emergence of “two-tier” economies without greater AI take-up. Amazon recently laid out its vision for a future Australia… Read more »
Christine Holgate has been called many things in her career, a trailblazer, turnaround queen, even troublemaker. But if you ask her, the most important label she’s carried is survivor. From building Blackmores into a global powerhouse, to shaking up Australia Post, to now leading the transformation of Team Global Express, Holgate has lived the rollercoaster… Read more »
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