NSW government ‘absolutely thrilled’ to welcome OpenAI ... until someone mentioned the Terminator films
Internal emails from the New South Wales technology minister's office show staff quietly walked back enthusiastic language about OpenAI's Sydney arrival after joking about dystopian AI scenarios, despite the government publicly encouraging the company's expansion into Australia.
Why this matters: The joke is funny. The instinct behind it is worth taking seriously. Government staff privately flagged unease about a powerful AI company moving in, then scrubbed the cautious tone before anything reached the public. That gap between the private conversation and the official welcome is exactly where accountability tends to disappear. Governments courting big AI companies have real leverage at the moment of arrival. That is the time to ask hard questions about data, infrastructure access, and what obligations come with the deal. Cheerful press releases do not do that work.
Who should care: AI governance · Lawyers · Administrators · General readers · Policy
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