Australia considers mandatory risk management for AI companies

Australia's government is considering requiring AI companies to identify, test, report and manage the risks of their systems, Assistant Minister Andrew Charlton said in a speech to the Sydney Trust and Safety Festival. Under the approach he described, government would set standards for those processes and hold companies accountable for whether they work. Charlton argued that voluntary regulation conflicts with firms' competitive incentives, while detailed rules can quickly become outdated. He also said regulation must be supplemented by domestic capability: Australia needs to host and build AI technology to have a stronger role in governing it.