Anthropic Lands in Queensland

By the Orchestra editors · 4 min read

TL;DR

Anthropic signs its first Australian data centre lease at a massive QLD facility
Claude merges Chat and Cowork into a single unified interface with new Docs and Slides
OpenAI publishes misalignment reporting framework with six previously undisclosed incidents
Google opens Home to third-party AI agents via MCP, and Apple eyes a return to enterprise servers

Australian Tech

Anthropic signs first Australian data centre deal in western Queensland

Anthropic has leased capacity at what would be one of Australia's largest computing facilities, located at the Western Downs Digital Park in Queensland. Premier David Crisafulli called it a major win for jobs and energy investment in the state.

ATO lays groundwork for AI-filed tax returns

The Australian Tax Office is cautiously exploring generative AI beyond its current admin uses under a $150M Microsoft deal, with its CIO eyeing a future where AI handles returns. The agency has nearly a decade of ML experience but is taking a measured approach to gen-AI deployment.

Australia's intelligence boss flags legacy tech as AI cyber risk

Australia's intelligence chief has warned that the government's estimated $13 billion in legacy tech debt creates serious vulnerability to AI-powered cyberattacks, calling for hard reduction targets and faster decommissioning of end-of-life systems.