As artificial intelligence continues its explosive global growth, South Australia’s state government is stepping forward to lead thoughtful regulation of the transformative technology, announcing a $3 million Royal Commission inquiry into AI’s current uses and emerging risks. The initiative, unveiled by Premier Peter Malinauskas, draws on the successful regulatory framework the state developed for social media reform that ultimately shaped Australia’s national ban on underage social media use, a model now adopted by governments around the world.
Malinauskas’s announcement comes shortly after his official visit to the United States, where he held in-depth talks with leading AI developers, including OpenAI – creator of the viral ChatGPT large language model – and tech giant Apple. During those meetings, the premier explored emerging use cases for generative and advanced AI, gaining first-hand insight into how rapidly the sector is evolving and what impacts it will have on regional economies and communities.
The Royal Commission, set to launch in October 2024, will launch a sweeping public inquiry to map how AI is already being deployed across key South Australian sectors, from education and public health to public services, industry and the arts. Its core mandate is clear: to identify pathways to unlock AI’s full economic and social benefits for South Australia, while proactively flagging potential risks, unregulated harms, and unwanted negative impacts on residents.
Malinauskas framed the rapid expansion of AI as the most significant technological shift the global community has experienced since the Industrial Revolution, noting that while no single regional government can halt the global rollout of the technology, it can shape how it is adopted locally to center public good. “This rapid development cannot occur unchecked. Governments must assume its responsibility to ensure these changes improve the lives of their citizens,” Malinauskas said, adding that the state aims to become a global leader in people-first AI policy.
“What we are trying to do is embrace the huge opportunity AI presents, but not in a careless way that leaves our community dealing with avoidable regrets down the line,” he added.
The inquiry is expected to collect public and stakeholder evidence over the next nine months, with a final report containing policy recommendations due to be published no later than 1 July 2025. The approach to the inquiry mirrors the process South Australia used for its earlier social media reform investigation: the state’s local inquiry laid the groundwork for the federal government’s national ban on children’s access to social media platforms, which has since become a blueprint for policymakers across the globe grappling with digital regulation.
With the $3 million price tag to be covered by South Australian taxpayer funds, the commission marks one of the most ambitious subnational regulatory efforts into AI anywhere in the world, signaling that regional governments are increasingly moving to address AI impacts even as national and international bodies negotiate broader global governance frameworks.