Weekly Newsletter

Practical AI Strategies

Big tech is writing its own rules again

Hi everyone,

I’ve been away for a couple of weeks, but the AI wheels keep on turning…

No blog post this week, but here are a few highlights from recent AI news to keep you up to date.

In the US, big tech has been given a licence to police itself by the Trump administration. Because that worked so well in the past… Trump says he’s happy to have “the smartest people in the world watching over each other”.

Closer to home, South Australia has announced who’ll be leading the Royal Commission into AI. There’s some clear US influence here too, not least of all the Premier’s trip to California which started the whole thing. Premier Peter Malinauskas says he wants to make sure “AI is working for people, rather than people working for AI”.

And despite PM Anthony Albanese’s stance that data centres in Australia will be built on renewables, Queensland and the NT say they've won the right to run AI data centres on coal and gas, while Canberra insists there are no carve-outs, so the national standards fight is far from over. Queensland’s Premier has already called it a “good win”.

Overall it looks like we’re moving backwards (or standing still) when it comes to policy and AI: the biggest, wealthiest companies in the world are being given free rein to write their own rules, and anywhere they’re challenged they’re using their wealth and connections to push back hard.

But it’s not all doom and gloom! I’ll be back to the blog as usual next week with the start of a new series called ‘Beyond Chatbots’. Part of the series will cover the reasons that various jurisdictions are taking the fight against big (AI) tech into their own hands, and how they’re doing it.

Stay tuned!

Cheers,

Leon

PS: The Practical AI for Curriculum Leaders Term 4 cohort starts soon. This is a six-week long intensive with an hour a week of live (and recorded) sessions on strategic planning for educators in curriculum leadership roles.

There are a handful of spaces left, but the course is capped to keep it small and collegial. The fee is $1440 AUD ex GST for the full six week program and access to resources. If you’re interested in more info and would like to register, click here.

Stay informed.​
The AI Reads page curates fresh, practical articles on AI and education—updated every week, free to browse.
Check it out → https://leonfurze.com/ai-reads/​

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