{"program_id":"au","program_name":"Australia: National AI Plan + GovAI Sovereign Compute","as_of":"2026-08-15T02:38:50.940Z","schema_version":"1.0","stages":{"announced":{"value_usd":24000000,"is_estimated":true,"currency_of_record":null,"fx_rate_used":null,"fx_rate_source":null,"fx_rate_date":null,"primary_sources":[{"url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/national-ai-plan","description":"Australia National AI Plan (official page)","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-04-07"},{"url":"https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/timayres/media-releases/national-ai-plan-empowering-all-australians","description":"National AI Plan launch announcement","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-04-07"},{"url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/news/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-capture-opportunities-share-benefits-and-keep-australians-safe","description":"Official DISR announcement","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-03-28"},{"url":"https://international.austrade.gov.au/en/news-and-analysis/news/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-to-build-a-world-class-ai-industry","description":"Amazon Web Services: A$20 billion DC investment announced June 2025 — PRIVATE, not sovereign","authority_tier":1}]},"committed":{"value_usd":24000000,"is_estimated":true,"currency_of_record":null,"fx_rate_used":null,"fx_rate_source":null,"fx_rate_date":null,"primary_sources":[{"url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/national-ai-plan","description":"Australia National AI Plan (official page)","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-04-07"},{"url":"https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/timayres/media-releases/national-ai-plan-empowering-all-australians","description":"National AI Plan launch announcement","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-04-07"},{"url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/news/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-capture-opportunities-share-benefits-and-keep-australians-safe","description":"Official DISR announcement","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-03-28"},{"url":"https://international.austrade.gov.au/en/news-and-analysis/news/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-to-build-a-world-class-ai-industry","description":"Amazon Web Services: A$20 billion DC investment announced June 2025 — PRIVATE, not sovereign","authority_tier":1}]},"disbursed":{"value_usd":null,"is_estimated":null,"currency_of_record":null,"fx_rate_used":null,"fx_rate_source":null,"fx_rate_date":null,"primary_sources":[{"url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/national-ai-plan","description":"Australia National AI Plan (official page)","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-04-07"},{"url":"https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/timayres/media-releases/national-ai-plan-empowering-all-australians","description":"National AI Plan launch announcement","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-04-07"},{"url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/news/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-capture-opportunities-share-benefits-and-keep-australians-safe","description":"Official DISR announcement","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-03-28"},{"url":"https://international.austrade.gov.au/en/news-and-analysis/news/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-to-build-a-world-class-ai-industry","description":"Amazon Web Services: A$20 billion DC investment announced June 2025 — PRIVATE, not sovereign","authority_tier":1}]},"deployed":{"value_usd":24000000,"is_estimated":null,"currency_of_record":null,"fx_rate_used":null,"fx_rate_source":null,"fx_rate_date":null,"primary_sources":[{"url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/national-ai-plan","description":"Australia National AI Plan (official page)","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-04-07"},{"url":"https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/timayres/media-releases/national-ai-plan-empowering-all-australians","description":"National AI Plan launch announcement","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-04-07"},{"url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/news/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-capture-opportunities-share-benefits-and-keep-australians-safe","description":"Official DISR announcement","authority_tier":1,"accessed_date":"2026-03-28"},{"url":"https://international.austrade.gov.au/en/news-and-analysis/news/australia-launches-national-ai-plan-to-build-a-world-class-ai-industry","description":"Amazon Web Services: A$20 billion DC investment announced June 2025 — PRIVATE, not sovereign","authority_tier":1}],"derivation_rule":"MIN(committed_usd, disbursed_usd, utility_evidence_ceiling_usd) over non-null inputs","inputs":{"committed_usd":24000000,"disbursed_usd":null,"utility_evidence_count":0,"utility_evidence_ceiling_usd":null,"composite_authority_tier":null}}},"structural_non_disclosure":false,"structural_non_disclosure_reason":null,"empanelled_partners":[{"partner_name":"National Computational Infrastructure (NCI)","gpu_count":null,"gpu_model":"NVIDIA V100; NVIDIA DGX A100","contract_award_url":"https://nci.org.au/","authority_tier":1,"vintage":"2025-12-02","notes":"Operates Gadi supercomputer at Australian National University; Australia's primary Tier-1 research computing facility funded through NCRIS. Current GPU complement: 160 nodes × 4 NVIDIA V100, plus 2 NVIDIA DGX A100 nodes (16 A100 GPUs). Sovereign compute backbone per National AI Plan Dec 2025.","partner_canonical_org_id":"org-national-computational-infrastructure-australia","allocation_stage":"commissioned","data_quality_flags":["aggregate_only_disclosure"]},{"partner_name":"Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre","gpu_count":null,"gpu_model":"AMD MI250X; NVIDIA GH200","contract_award_url":"https://pawsey.org.au/","authority_tier":1,"vintage":"2025-12-02","notes":"Operates Setonix supercomputer (Perth); recognised as most energy-efficient and powerful supercomputer in the Southern Hemisphere. AMD MI250X GPUs; Setonix-Q quantum-classical pilot uses NVIDIA GH200. NCRIS-funded sovereign research compute. Partner in NCMAS 2026 allocation scheme.","partner_canonical_org_id":"org-pawsey-supercomputing-centre","allocation_stage":"commissioned","data_quality_flags":["aggregate_only_disclosure"]},{"partner_name":"HPE Cray","gpu_count":null,"gpu_model":null,"contract_award_url":"https://nci.org.au/news-events/news/latest-hpc-and-hpd-infrastructure-accelerating-australian-science-and-research","authority_tier":2,"vintage":"2022-01-01","notes":"Manufacturer of Setonix supercomputer at Pawsey per NCI/Pawsey infrastructure article. Authority tier 2 (secondary source).","partner_canonical_org_id":"org-empanelled-hpe-cray","allocation_stage":"commissioned","data_quality_flags":["aggregate_only_disclosure"]},{"partner_name":"Firmus (Project Southgate)","gpu_count":null,"gpu_model":"NVIDIA (model unspecified)","contract_award_url":"https://siliconangle.com/2025/11/14/ai-infrastructure-startup-firmus-raises-327m-build-data-centers-australia/","authority_tier":3,"vintage":"2025-11-14","notes":"AI infrastructure startup deploying 1.6 GW NVIDIA-powered capacity across four Australian capitals under Project Southgate; $4.5B initial investment, potential $73.3B scale per SiliconANGLE Nov 2025. Private-sector compute referenced in National AI Plan. Authority tier 3.","partner_canonical_org_id":"org-firmus","allocation_stage":"announced","usd_allocation":4500000000,"data_quality_flags":["pre_tender_announcement"]},{"partner_name":"Microsoft","gpu_count":null,"gpu_model":null,"contract_award_url":"https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/23/microsoft-expands-ai-footprint-in-australia-with-18-billion-investment.html","authority_tier":2,"vintage":"2026-04-23","notes":"A$25B (approx. USD $16B) data center investment commitment through 2029 per CNBC Apr 2026; referenced in National AI Plan as major private-sector compute contributor. Authority tier 2 (press coverage).","partner_canonical_org_id":"org-microsoft","allocation_stage":"announced","usd_allocation":16000000000,"data_quality_flags":["pre_tender_announcement"]},{"partner_name":"Amazon Web Services","gpu_count":null,"gpu_model":null,"contract_award_url":"https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/national-ai-plan/capture-opportunities","authority_tier":2,"vintage":"2025-06-01","notes":"A$20B (approx. USD $14B) investment in Australian data centers announced Jun 2025; described as largest technology investment in Australia's history. Referenced in National AI Plan. Authority tier 2.","partner_canonical_org_id":"org-amazon-web-services","allocation_stage":"announced","usd_allocation":14000000000,"data_quality_flags":["pre_tender_announcement"]}],"data_quality_flags":["A$460M consolidates existing programs rather than new spend; new dedicated AI compute ~A$39.9M/5yr","Australia has no dedicated sovereign AI GPU cluster, but national HPC systems have significant GPU resources: NCI Gadi (776 GPUs: 120 H200 + 16 A100 + 640 V100) and Pawsey Setonix (1,536 MI250X). These are general HPC, not AI-optimized.","A$100B+ figures in press refer to private DC investments (OpenAI/NextDC A$7B, AWS A$20B, Microsoft A$5B)","Government direct compute spend is in the low tens of millions AUD","'Sovereign Australia AI', a Blackwell GPU cluster, is a private entity despite the name."],"last_validated_at":"2026-08-15"}