Opposition spokesman Ted O'Brien says securing an artificial intelligence agreement with the United States would be the Coalition's first priority in government, according to The Australian. The commitment was reported on Wednesday, 7 October 2026, alongside a separate News.com.au report on what it described as a major call over "horrifying" AI.
The Australian Financial Review reports that a parliamentary inquiry heard local AI models can handle roughly 90 per cent of AI tasks at a lower cost than alternatives. The Canberra Times also reports that technology companies are working to persuade Australians of the technology's benefits, while noting that public concern about AI is understandable and pointing to existing laws that can offer protection.
Together the reports sketch a policy debate moving on several fronts at once: whether Australia should formalise AI cooperation with the US, how much work can be done by locally built models, and how far existing regulation goes in addressing public fears.
What to watch next is whether the Coalition sets out the terms of the proposed US agreement, and what the inquiry recommends on local model use and safeguards.
