The NSW technology minister’s office removed a reference to being “absolutely thrilled” about OpenAI opening a Sydney office after staffers joked a dystopian Skynet could be headed for the city within five years.
Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI announced its first Australian office in August last year, before opening in December.
In emails tabled in NSW parliament this week, and provided to Guardian Australia, staff members in technology minister Anoulack Chanthivong’s office debated the phrasing of media comments welcoming the announcement.
What started out as: “The Minns Labor government is absolutely thrilled to welcome the news that OpenAI will open its first Australian office, right here in Sydney, later this year”, subsequently had “absolutely thrilled” removed, leaving just “welcomes the news”.
“Fine – I will roll out ‘golden era’ next time,” the minister’s deputy chief of staff replied after the suggested changes.
“I’m still convinced we’re headed for a Skynet situation in the next 5 years so don’t want to be on record endorsing any ‘golden era’,” another staffer joked.
Skynet is the Terminator film series’ fictional artificial intelligence , which achieves sentience and wipes out billions of people on Judgment Day.
Despite the staff members’ restraint, the documents reveal how fervently members of the NSW government were courting the US tech company before its decision to open a Sydney office.
In a meeting between Chanthivong and OpenAI to encourage the company to invest in NSW in June last year, key messages included that Sydney was the number one startup location in the southern hemisphere, attracting 65% of all venture capital in Australia, and was home of tech companies Atlassian, Canva and Afterpay.
It was also suggested the minister should tell OpenAI that major US tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Meta, AWS and IBM, had Australian headquarters in Sydney.
“NSW is home to Australia’s Al ecosystem,” the talking points stated. “45% of all Al businesses in Australia are in NSW.”
Approached for comment, a spokesperson said the NSW government was committed to embracing AI opportunities “while ensuring emerging technologies are used responsibly and in the public interest”.
The state government is developing a strategy around datacentre development to support the growing AI sector, but has yet to announce when it will be released.
Asked in the NSW inquiry into datacentres on Thursday whether NSW was falling behind Victoria and South Australia, the environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said she was not concerned as Sydney posed a “highly desirable location”.
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