Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This is a Squiz Podcast. We're your shortcut to being informed. This podcast is brought to you by BHP. BHP plays a big role in the Australian economy, from the tax it pays, the small, local and Indigenous businesses it backs, regional communities it supports and how it contributes to the broader economy. Good morning, I'm Alice Dempster.
And I'm Andrew Williams.
It's Wednesday the 10th of June. In your Squiz today, another AI giant is going public, an exciting day for Squiz kids, barbecues galore is no more, and voting on our favourite Aussie shows. This is your Squiz today.
Chapter 2: What major AI company is going public this week?
We were only talking about the AI company Anthropic preparing to go public on the US stock market this time last week. Now we've heard that OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is following in its footsteps. It's expected to be one of the highest valued market debuts in history.
It is. This is a bit of an emerging theme at the moment. And to give you an idea of how highly these companies are valued, OpenAI was recently judged to be worth well over a trillion dollars in Australian money. That would make it one of the highest valued companies in the world. Anthropic is apparently worth even more. They're not the only two AI companies planning to go public.
Elon Musk's SpaceX is also heavily involved in AI, and that has plans in the works as well. This is the process where private companies get ready to sell shares to people who want to invest in them. If you're wondering why these numbers are so high, there are a lot of reasons. AI is a very complex and wide-ranging technology, but
Essentially, those who believe in its value think it's going to be a transformative economic game changer because, in part, it can replace work previously done by humans. A lot of that work cut down time, make it more accessible to people, but also there's the potential of what we don't know it can do yet. People who are investing in it are making a big bet on that as well.
One researcher described it as the new electricity in terms of its significance and what it's going to change.
Yeah, not everyone's so bullish, though, about how much these AI companies are worth. There's plenty of questions about the tech itself and its impact on the workforce and the environment.
And some experts have questioned whether OpenAI makes enough revenue from its products to warrant the big numbers that are being thrown around, especially given the amount that it's planning to spend on infrastructure like data centres.
For AI to operate, it needs massive computing power, and that means it needs data centers to provide that computing power. Those data centers, in many cases, are gigantic. Companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI have all announced plans to build centers like this in Australia in deals worth several billions of dollars. Yesterday, the independent Senator David Pocock announced
said that any company planning to build those sorts of centres in Australia should be taxed accordingly. He compared it to something like taxing gas producers, saying that we've watched foreign-owned companies extract enormous value from Australian resources before while finding ways to minimise the tax they pay here. So he's warning that that shouldn't happen again.
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Chapter 3: How is OpenAI's market debut expected to impact the industry?
And here at home, reports say that CommBank's trading platform has been struggling to keep up with demand to get involved. So we'll find out sooner rather than later what the market thinks it's worth. And while we're on the topic, Andrew, a reminder that the second part of our quiz series, partnering with Minduru Foundation and looking at artificial intelligence in Australia, is out tonight.
It is. This one's focused on the intersection between artificial intelligence and the law. We've talked to a legal expert, Peter Lee, about whether our laws are keeping up with the pace of development in the AI sector. And spoiler alert on that, probably not. So you'll find that in this feed around 5pm Eastern time today.
We also have a shortcut getting into the impact of the data centres that are powering these AI giants. So we'll link to that in the episode notes. You might have seen a bit around in the last day or so about an earthquake in the Philippines. It's dealing with the aftermath of a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit on Monday morning.
There are still aftershocks being felt and the death toll is likely to rise.
Yeah, the quake hit Mindanao Island, leaving at least 37 people dead and more than 480 injured. But authorities say that those numbers will likely rise over the coming days. So emergency workers are still trying to reach cities and towns on the coast where buildings have collapsed or been buried in landslides. Reports say that large parts of the island have been left without power.
There are also 2,000 homes and 6,000 schools that have been damaged. The Philippine science minister said that many students survived because they were at assembly and were lucky to be outside.
Yeah, he also said the area has experienced strong earthquakes before, but this is one of the strongest. The search for survivors is still on. The Philippines Coast Guard has sent out at least 150 first responders, including rescue dogs, to search the collapsed buildings for people who might be trapped. A quick message now from BHP.
When it comes to regional communities, BHP says mining plays a big role in local economies and services and also education and training. An example of that is in regional Western Australia, where BHP has invested in the Pilbara Education Partnership, which is focused on improving school readiness and employment outcomes for local children and young people.
It's the kind of long-term investment that can make a real difference in those communities for generations. Pretty exciting day for the Squiz team yesterday, Andrew, particularly our Squiz Kids colleagues. If you didn't catch it on our socials, they've just locked in a new partnership with my state, the South Australian government, to roll out the News Hounds program in local schools.
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Chapter 4: What concerns do experts have about AI company valuations?
I'll still be on the AI series and maybe a shortcut here and there, but largely I will be away. But you will be not only in the very capable hands of yourself, Alice, of course. but also Anna, who you've heard from recently, Larissa and the rest of the Squiz crew. I'll look forward to chatting to you again in a few weeks' time.
If you'd like to get me a going-away present, a lovely review on Apple Podcasts or following us on Spotify or Apple would be much appreciated.
That's us done for today. Thank you for listening and we'll be back with you again tomorrow.