Meta’s warning to Anthony Albanese on AI laws

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has told Anthony Albanese that a pursuit of ‘overly broad’ changes to privacy laws would curtail its attempts to train AI to mimic ‘human beings’.

Meta and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan Picture: Getty Images

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Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has told Anthony Albanese that a pursuit of “overly broad” changes to privacy laws would curtail its attempts to train artificial intelligence bots to mimic “human beings”.

Amid fears of AI job replacement and warnings the technology should be treated “alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war”, tech juggernaut Meta has told the Productivity Commission it needs to use data with personal information to authentically replicate how Australians speak and interact.

It marks the latest demand on the Albanese government from US tech giants, after Australia’s under-16s social media ban and news media bargaining code emerged as sticking points in tariff negotiations with the Trump administration.

Meta said discourse that took place on its platforms – including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – “represents vital learning on both how individuals discuss Australian concepts, realities and figures, as well as, in particular, how users of our products engage”.

“This means that authentic and effective learning to ultimately power meaningful products of communication is best realised from training that includes those discussions and artefacts themselves,” Meta wrote in its submission to the Productivity Commission’s five-pillar productivity inquiry.

“Although there are databases of information that may not contain personal information, like Australian legislation, there are limits to the utility of such corpuses.”

“Human beings’ discussions of culture, art and emerging trends are not borne out in such legislative texts.”

US-based Meta urged Australia to incorporate “innovation and economic interests as key objectives” of privacy law.

It said it was “concerned … overlapping regulatory frameworks and policy directions in Australia” would impact the “ability of companies such as Meta to use data and AI to protect the safety of Australian users and the integrity of our services”.

It nonetheless asserted it was “committed to ensuring robust privacy and data protection measures across our platforms”.

Similarly, search giant Google raised concern about the “lack of a text and data mining exception” under Australian copyright law, declaring AI “stands to change the global economic order”.

While not specifically discussing the training of AI models, Google warned against the “uncertainty” in the Australian landscape and the “chilling effect” it had on investment, productivity and innovation.

Google warned Australia could be left behind “given competitor governments in the Asia-Pacific region such as Japan and Singapore have implemented innovation-friendly AI policy regimes to boost their AI and economic competitiveness”.

Meta also raised concerns about Australia’s regulatory environment compared to international counterparts.

Google has warned Australia could be left behind in the AI race Picture: AFP

“We are concerned that recent developments are moving Australia’s privacy regime to be out of step with international norms, impose obligations on industry that conflict with broader digital policy objectives to promote age-appropriate and safe experiences online, and disincentivise industry investment in AI in Australia or in pro-consumer outcomes,” its submission read.

Meta also spruiked AI-driven personal advertising and said it was “important that any regulatory approach to targeted advertising not proceed from a mistaken assumption that such advertising is inherently detrimental to consumers”. Targeted advertising is one of the areas being considered for regulation under privacy law reforms.

Meta said its targeted advertising service had driven down advertising costs and increased the effectiveness of marketing, and also asserted “consumers also benefit from personalised advertising”.

Tech giant Amazon urged that in the Australian government’s reforms, there needed to be a “balance between protecting privacy and enabling legitimate business activities”. It urged that “privacy regulations do not unreasonably encroach on the ability of businesses to personalise content and services for their customers”, and urged a lighter touch than was being considered on regulation about personal regulation.

Amazon says the government must find a balance between business activities and privacy Picture: Reuters

“The government has signalled an intention to introduce a ‘fair and reasonable’ test for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information,” its submission read.

“We continue to recommend that the test is modified by introducing a requirement to ensure that personal information is ‘processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner’.”

Meta warned Australian businesses were lagging behind international counterparts in AI take-up, potentially missing out on the $81bn-$195bn economic uplift by 2034 it said AI could deliver.