Australian PM wants to ban data centers near schools

The prime minister is expected to outline rules aimed at minimizing their impact on communities by locating them away from homes, schools, prime farmland and potential housing sites.(AFP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will seek to ban large data centers from being built near schools, homes and farms when he meets with state leaders this week, according to plans seen by AFP on Monday.Albanese’s government has pledged to move quickly on a national artificial intelligence law, likening its response to the data center boom to Australia’s world-first teen social media ban.The national AI law will also set rules for AI training, covering issues including copyright, security and safety, AFP was told ahead of Albanese’s meeting with state leaders Wednesday to agree on nationwide legislation.Australia’s largest state, New South Wales, has said it is assessing 26 new data center projects worth AU$100 billion ($71.7 billion).The state already has 90 data centers operating after construction grew 65% annually over the past three years.But a proposal to build a data center in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains near a school was withdrawn in June after community outcry.Albanese is expected to outline national minimum standards for water and energy use by data centers, as well as rules aimed at minimizing their impact on communities by locating them away from homes, schools, prime farmland and potential housing sites.At a business dinner Tuesday, he is expected to argue that the data center boom needs to maintain community support.“Hosting large-scale AI training data centres and unlocking frontier AI model training will help Australia capture a larger share of the economic value, technical capability and strategic influence of AI,” Albanese is expected to say, according to an excerpt of his speech.“We must establish conditions to attract investment in frontier AI training, ensuring AI is developed safely, securely, and in ways that respect copyright and provide control and payment to the creative sector,” he is expected to add.U.S. startup Anthropic has lobbied Australian officials to change copyright laws to assist in training AI models, prompting a backlash from media companies, musicians and other creators.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads