Four of the world’s largest companies are being questioned about the risks and benefits of introducing AI tools in Australia as part of a national inquiry into the technology. MONKEY defeated.

Representatives of Google, Meta, Microsoft And Amazon will appear in Canberra today for the fifth public hearing of the inquiry into the adoption of artificial intelligence.

The companies behind AI tools like Gemini, Meta AI and Copilot are expected to face questions about how businesses can use the technology, as well as the ways it has been misused.

Microsoft is also the largest investor in OpenAIwho owns ChatGPTalthough the company operates independently.

The inquiry, launched in March, is tasked with examining AI trends, flaws, biases and opportunities, as well as their impact on elections and the environment. Previous hearings have heard calls to impose restrictions on the use of AI tools in sectors such as health care, media and the arts.

The parliamentary committee is expected to announce its findings in September.

NSW Liberals State Director Richard Shields was dismissed after the party failed to nominate more than 130 candidates for the local elections, AAP reports.

In a statement issued after an emergency meeting late last night, the party’s state chairman said Don Harwin said the board had unanimously decided to terminate Shields’ employment because of the fiasco:

The State Director was given the opportunity to explain the circumstances to the State leadership. This failure to meet such a fundamental responsibility has made his position untenable.

As a result, the executive branch has unanimously decided to terminate the State Director’s employment with immediate effect.

Earlier in the evening, Shields called calls for his resignation “premature.” Shields had said:

There must be a thorough evaluation of the nomination process to establish all the facts.

Eight local councils – including several at the heart of the party – will go to the upcoming national elections without a Liberal Party candidate on their list.

You can read more about it below:

Welcome

Emily Wind

Good morning and happy Friday – welcome back to the Australian news live blog after a busy week of sitting. I am Emily Wind and I’ll take you through our ongoing reporting today.

In the news at night: NSW Liberals state director Richard Shields has been fired, AAP reports, after failing to nominate 140 candidates for local government elections. We bring you the full statement from the party’s state chairman Don Harwin in a moment.

Anthony Albanese is about to meet his New Zealand counterpart Chris Luxon in Canberra today for the annual meeting of Australian and New Zealand leaders. Also in Canberra today, four of the world’s largest companies are being asked about the risks and benefits of adopting AI tools in Australia as part of a national inquiry into the technology.

We’ll tell you more about both stories in a moment.

As always, if you see something that needs attention, please contact me at X, @emilywindwrites, or email me: [email protected].

Let’s get started.