Matt Canavan accuses OpenAI of ‘blackmail’ after investment ‘threats’

Nationals leader Matt Canavan has accused OpenAI of trying to “blackmail” Canberra amid reporting the tech giant could pull investments in Australia if the Albanese government does not water down copyright protections.

“I don’t think we should negotiate with people that want to blackmail us like that,” he told News24 on Tuesday.

“A whole reason we want to potentially house these models is because we would be partnering with what has been a friend or an ally, and I don’t think friends or allies make these kinds of threats.

“I don’t think OpenAI will get very far with such rhetoric or language.

“We should protect Australian copyright. We should protect Australian artists. That should be non-negotiable.”

OpenAI is one of the world’s biggest artificial intelligence companies, with a market valuation in March pinning its worth at $US852bn ($A1.2 trillion).

In an interview with The Australian on Monday, OpenAI senior vice-president Ann O’Leary warned Labor’s protections for creatives could thwart plans to pump billions into setting up data centres to train models in Australia.

“No other place in the world has done (AI training) yet, and so the question is: Is Australia going to be the first?” Ms O’Leary said.

“And that’s really a copyright question more than a renewable energy question.”

She said her OpenAI “isn’t ready to have that conversation if we can’t get through the gating problem of the copyright barriers”.

But Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said on Tuesday morning the warning had been overstated

“We do want to see our country take this opportunity,” he said, also speaking to News24.

“It’s a historic opportunity for our nation, but we need to be doing it in a way which protects right holders and that means news organisations, it means creatives.”

He said Ms O’Leary “was making the point that copyright is an issue which needs to be looked at in the context of OpenAI doing training in Australia”.