2026-09-27
The CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, have been called to appear before the Senate inquiry into AI data centres and answer questions about the impacts of their companies’ rapidly expanding footprint in Australia.
The Senate Inquiry will resume hearings in Canberra on Thursday 1 October.
Chair of the Senate Inquiry into AI Data Centres, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“AI companies need to earn their social license. That starts with transparency and accountability.
“There are serious questions for Sam Altman to answer about the OpenAI hack of Australian government websites. This can’t all be done behind closed doors, the public has a right to know what went on here.
“For months, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have been personally lobbying senior members of the Australian Government in the hopes of getting sweetheart deals that water down Australia’s copyright laws and give them free reign over our water, energy and land for their mega data mining factories.
“As they warn the world about the risks posed by AI, they are also going at hyperspeed to put more data centres in Australia. It just doesn’t stack up. It’s time for some real transparency around these deals.
“If they truly believe their own warnings they must front up, face the Senate’s questions and have an honest conversation about what effective, lasting regulation of this industry should look like.
“In our first hearings this week, the inquiry has shone a light on how little transparency there has been on the roll out of AI data centres in Australia.
“Australians deserve to know what these big AI companies are doing with our data, how much water and electricity their data mining activities will consume and what the impact will be on our communities and our culture.”