The world’s AI giants are racing to lock in Australia’s big banks
From OpenAI to Anthropic, the country’s biggest financial institutions are trying to work out how to engage with – and where to spend their sizeable budgets.
Sam Altman has called a code red as OpenAI’s rivals such as Anthropic increase their market share. Bethany Rae
Last week, as OpenAI prepared to launch its new Australian headquarters, chief executive Sam Altman delivered a blunt warning to staff. Declaring a “code red”, the billionaire said the ChatGPT developer was in danger of losing its crown as the world’s dominant artificial intelligence provider to deep-pocketed rivals such as Microsoft.
Having spent billions of dollars to develop the next generation of AI – and everything from chatbots with personalised features to deep research platforms – the time has come for OpenAI and its biggest competitors to find users. And Australian banks have long been a prime target.
James EyersSenior ReporterJames Eyers writes on banking, finance, payments, regulation and emerging technologies. Based in Sydney, he is a former legal and investment banking editor at the AFR and has been a business journalist for more than 20 years. Email James at jeyers@afr.com.au
