Federal government and Anthropic sign MOU for AI safety research

AI company Anthropic announced last week that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Australian Government to cooperate on AI safety research and support the goals of Australia’s National AI Plan.

Central to the MOU is a commitment to work with Australia’s AI Safety Institute. Anthropic says it will share its findings on emerging model capabilities and risks, participate in joint safety and security evaluations, and collaborate on research with Australian academic institutions. This mirrors arrangements the company has with safety institutes in the US, UK and Japan.

Under the MOU, the company will share Anthropic Economic Index data with the Australian Government to help track how AI is being adopted across the economy, its economic impacts, and the implications for workers. The initial focus will be on sectors critical to Australia’s economy, including natural resources, agriculture, health care and financial services.

The company’s recent Anthropic Economic Index data shows that Australians already use Claude for a broader range of tasks than most countries — the most diverse among English-speaking nations — and work collaboratively with AI using sophisticated prompts to accomplish high-skill tasks ranging from management and sales and business operations, to use in the life sciences and in everyday life. Finally, in line with Australia’s National AI plan, Anthropic says it is exploring investments in data centre infrastructure and energy throughout the country, aligned with the government’s recently announced data centre expectations.

“Australia’s investment in AI safety makes it a natural partner for responsible AI development. This MOU gives our collaboration a formal foundation,” said Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. “I’m particularly excited by the work Australian research institutions will be doing with Claude to advance disease diagnosis and treatment.”

Anthropic has also announced it is extending its AI for Science program to Australia, starting with an investment of AU$3 million in Claude API credits to four research institutions. New partnerships with the Australian National University, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Curtin University will support areas like clinical genomics and precision medicine, paediatric medical research, and computing education.

Image credit: iStock.com/JuSun