Anthropic has asked the Albanese government to approve training its AI models on Australian copyrighted works under an opt-out system. The request follows the company's acknowledgment it cannot win a blanket copyright exemption. Australia's public broadcasters the ABC and SBS have strongly criticized AI firms, urging the government to impose stricter rules that would compensate media organisations and protect public interest journalism. The dispute unfolds as a federal parliamentary inquiry into artificial intelligence policy gears up for public hearings in Sydney, where executives from Anthropic and OpenAI will face questions about data access and model training practices.
Anthropic's conditional copyright bid for Australian training data
Anthropic submitted its position to a federal parliamentary inquiry examining artificial intelligence policy. The company told the Albanese government it could offer "conditional approval" that would permit model training on copyrighted material, provided rightsholders retain the ability to opt out via robots.txt files using "do not crawl" signals. This approach represents a pivot from the company's earlier position. Anthropic conceded that broad copyright exceptions, including a text and data mining exemption, have attracted little support and have been formally rejected by the government. The company framed its alternative as a way to balance AI development with cultural interests, arguing that legal certainty would bring AI developers to the negotiating table while respecting creator rights. Anthropic also highlighted planned billion-dollar investments in Australian data centres and urged officials to support what it calls "frontier model training." The company's submission emphasised that access to Australian copyrighted works such as news, books, music and other written material remains a sticking point for AI firms seeking training data. Anthropic's submission called on Australia to "provide legal certainty under copyright that brings AI developers to the table while advancing its national cultural interests."
ABC and SBS demand equal copyright rules for AI firms
The ABC submitted that AI-based services currently operate without the same copyright, defamation and privacy obligations that apply to established media. The broadcaster warned this unequal treatment will accelerate the cannibalisation of the Australian news industry. In its submission the ABC stated that as publishers, AI-based services are currently unregulated and receive more favourable treatment than established Australian media. This unequal treatment will accelerate the cannibalisation of the Australian news industry. The ABC called for AI companies to be included in the news bargaining incentive, a framework already governing platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok and Snapchat, which requires commercial deals with large media outlets to support journalism. SBS echoed these concerns, describing AI-powered large language models such as ChatGPT and Claude as challenges to the sustainability of the Australian news industry and the erosion of information integrity and public trust through their use of news content without permission, attribution or compensation. SBS also warned that robots.txt mechanisms are routinely ignored or bypassed, and that shifting the burden of monitoring onto rightsholders places unfair pressure on publishers who should not have to police training bots. "As publishers, AI-based services are currently unregulated and receive more favourable treatment than established Australian media. This unequal treatment will accelerate the cannibalisation of the Australian news industry," the ABC said in its submission. SBS said AI-powered large language models – such as ChatGPT or Claude – were "challenges to the sustainability of the Australian news industry and the erosion of information integrity and public trust through their use of news content without permission, attribution or compensation".
Parliamentary inquiry hearings after Services Australia data breach
The joint select committee on AI has scheduled a series of hearings in Sydney for the coming week. Executives from Anthropic and OpenAI are expected to attend, the committee confirmed after admitting that one of its AI agents had accessed Services Australia data in June. The inquiry's scope now includes examining how AI firms acquire training data, what oversight exists for model development, and what safeguards might be required to protect government information. Anthropic's submission to the same inquiry warned of serious implications for Australia's national security, the resilience of its critical infrastructure and the safety of its people, while also asserting the technology could transform the Australian economy, drive a new wave of productivity and solve some of the nation's biggest challenges. The labor government has ruled out a so-called text and data mining exemption, with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, promising "the strongest possible protection" for Australian creatives. But questions have lingered about other possible copyright changes and the suggestion of an opt-out measure, allowing copyright holders to choose whether their content can be accessed by AI companies. The joint select committee on AI will hold a series of hearings in Sydney next week, with executives from Anthropic to attend along with those from OpenAI, after it admitted one of its AI agents had accessed Services Australia data in June.
The robots.txt opt-out dilemma
SBS argued that an opt-out model relying on robots.txt signals is unlikely to be effective in practice. The broadcaster noted that training bots evolve rapidly, and blocking them increases the monitoring burden on rightsholders rather than preventing unauthorised use. SBS said such an opt-out measure may not work because robots.txt mechanisms are routinely ignored or bypassed, and the blocking of ever-evolving training bots increases the burden on rightsholders to monitor and update protections, when the onus should be on AI companies to avoid wrongdoing. The ABC went further, describing the current regulatory gap as anti-competitive, since AI services receive more favourable treatment than established Australian media organisations. Both broadcasters maintain that the responsibility should fall on AI companies to avoid wrongdoing, not on publishers to continually update protections against evolving bots. SBS said AI-powered large language models – such as ChatGPT or Claude – were "challenges to the sustainability of the Australian news industry and the erosion of information integrity and public trust through their use of news content without permission, attribution or compensation". However SBS said that such an opt-out measure may not work. "Robots.txt mechanisms are routinely ignored or bypassed, and the blocking of ever-evolving training bots increases the burden on rightsholders to monitor and update protections, when the onus should be on AI companies to avoid wrongdoing," the broadcaster said in its submission. The ABC complained that AI companies did not abide by the same rules as media outlets, calling the current system "anti-competitive".
Including AI in Australia's news bargaining framework
The ABC and SBS have jointly called for AI companies to be folded into the news bargaining incentive, the mechanism that has forced big tech platforms to strike commercial deals with media outlets. Such a move would require AI firms to negotiate compensation arrangements with large publishers, directing revenue back into journalism organisations. The ABC's submission emphasised that without equal rules, the news industry faces accelerated erosion as AI services consume content without contributing to its sustainability. Both broadcasters called for AI to be included in the news bargaining incentive – with which big tech platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok and Snapchat have been forced to comply. Whether the government will adopt either the opt-out conditional approval model or extend the news bargaining framework to AI firms remains an open question as the parliamentary committee prepares to hear from industry executives in Sydney.