Australia pushes for early warning system to counter AI threats

Canberra (ANTARA) - The head of Australia’s cyber intelligence agency has warned that the country needs an early warning system for threats posed by AI, as reported by Xinhua on Tuesday.

Abigail Bradshaw, Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), said at a meeting in Canberra on Monday (14/9) that AI-based attacks could exploit outdated technology used by government and business.

She urged organisations to harness AI as a means of defence, and suggested that intelligence and security agencies work together with AI companies to identify risks early.

“What we do not currently have — something that already exists in the cyber context but has not been formalised in the AI context — is an early warning system,” Bradshaw said.

The Canberra meeting was held days after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Saturday (12/9) called on the industry to slow the pace of AI development and asked third-party evaluators to verify AI models’ compliance with safety measures.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI’s Elon Musk expressed agreement with Amodei.

In response, Australia’s Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy, Andrew Charlton, said on Monday that he did not want technology companies or the United States to be the only parties responsible for setting safety limits for AI.

“In my view, we should not be too concerned about statements by individual CEOs or what particular executives want,” he said.

“I do not agree that this matter should be handed over entirely to companies or superpowers,” he added.