Quick reminder that this isn’t the only data breach we’ve seen from Origin Energy recently. An employee allegedly emailed customer card details to their personal email address last year, supposedly after they were sacked. Story: ia.acs.org.au/article/2025...

Origin Energy confirms data breach involving credit cards

Employee allegedly stole customer payment details.

ia.acs.org.au

ABC News Australia@news.abc.net.au · 2w ago

Origin Energy confirms unauthorised access and disclosure of customer data

After the PM's big AI speech yesterday, I hassled a few experts in the room for their initial reactions. While they all welcomed the government's new 'Office of AI', they did have some concerns. 🤔 Thanks to UNSW's @suekeay.bsky.social, USyd's @kimweatherall.bsky.social, and ARM Hub's Cori Stewart.

Govt to introduce AI, data centre laws in policy pivot

Experts seek detail on Albanese's plan for national standards.

ia.acs.org.au

Apple is suing OpenAI for allegedly encouraging former Apple employees to steal details of the company’s upcoming products and share them with OpenAI during job interviews. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Apple sues OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets

ChatGPT-maker accused of 'a pattern of theft'.

ia.acs.org.au

The Commonwealth Bank is planning to cut a further 176 technology and engineering jobs, according to the local finance union, which is accusing the nation’s largest bank of readvertising some lost roles under its Indian subsidiary. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Commonwealth Bank cuts more tech jobs

Financial giant accused of offshoring additional roles to India.

ia.acs.org.au

Holy hell. Telstra has confirmed the defective software update at the centre of yesterday's nationwide outage caused parts of its network to momentarily set their time and date settings back to November 2006! Full story on @information-age.bsky.social: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Telstra dealing with ‘secondary issue’ as outage effects continue

Experts warn Telstra isn’t the only one to blame for outages.

ia.acs.org.au

An interesting graph from this 'AI and employment in Australia' report - some ICT jobs are up, while others have dropped:

Information Age@information-age.bsky.social · 4w ago

There is "no evidence to date of broad labour market upheaval” in Australia caused by generative artificial intelligence, a first-of-its-kind government report has found, despite the technology being cited as a factor in some recent layoffs. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Meta’s shift towards relying on users to report hateful conduct has not led to an increase in antisemitic content across its social media platforms, a company executive told Australia’s Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion on Monday. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Meta, TikTok grilled at Antisemitism Royal Commission

Social media giants defend approaches to moderation.

ia.acs.org.au

some amazing things happening over on threads — ever since they “shut down CERN”

Exclusive: All but two Australian public service agencies required to appoint an existing staff member as their chief AI officer (CAIO) have met a government deadline to do so by the start of the new financial year. Details here: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Govt agencies that missed the chief AI officer deadline

Public service rushes to put staff in charge of AI adoption.

ia.acs.org.au

Australia’s consumer watchdog is suing Amazon for allegedly using “unfair contract terms” to introduce advertising and force users to pay more to avoid ads on its Prime Video streaming service. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

ACCC sues Amazon over Prime ads, 'unfair' contracts

Over 850,000 subscribers affected, watchdog says.

ia.acs.org.au

If you're in Australia and logged in to Google or Microsoft but their search engine doesn't know how old you are, you may soon be asked to share government ID, undergo facial age estimation, or complete a credit card check. 🙋‍♂️ Details in our story, featuring RMIT University's @lisagiven.bsky.social:

Search engine age-checking rules begin in Australia

Likes of Google and Bing could face huge penalties for breaches.

ia.acs.org.au

If you're in the market for a new Mac or iPad, now might be a good time to find a deal before local Apple retailers adjust their pricing 👀

Information Age@information-age.bsky.social · last mo.

Apple raised the Australian prices of most of its Macs, iPads, and several other devices on Friday, as the tech giant passes rising costs of computer chips and parts on to customers. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

These are the kind of subs Australia should be buying.

Ars Technica@arstechnica.com · last mo.

New from me: A flood of AI-generated code has left key open-source developers known as maintainers "inundated", with many turning to AI tools to help handle the onslaught. Featuring Aussie maintainer @lucyleeow.bsky.social, Microsoft's @aaron-powell.com, GitHub's @ashleywolf.bsky.social, and more 💻

The Australians fighting AI slop in open-source code

Meet the maintainers being 'inundated' by GenAI contributions.

ia.acs.org.au

A former chief executive of spaceport startup Equatorial Launch Australia is owed more than $2.3 million, a judge has ruled, after the collapsed firm lost a four-year legal fight in the Federal Court on Friday. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Collapsed space startup’s ex-CEO wins $2.3m in legal fight

Equatorial Launch Australia owes Carley Scott millions, judge finds.

ia.acs.org.au

Exclusive: Several Australian customers of Budget Car Rental and financial giant American Express have been charged 100 times more than their bookings should have cost, due to a technical processing error. Full story on @information-age.bsky.social: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Blunder sees Australians charged 100x more for car hire

American Express and Budget customers affected.

ia.acs.org.au

Exclusive: Several Australian customers of Budget Car Rental and financial giant American Express have been charged 100 times more than their bookings should have cost, due to a technical processing error. Full story on @information-age.bsky.social: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Blunder sees Australians charged 100x more for car hire

American Express and Budget customers affected.

ia.acs.org.au

Simply cannot stop thinking about how much Snap's US$2,195 Specs clearly smoosh CEO Evan Spiegel's ears in every single photo of them.

I'm back from leave and ready to report on only the most important issues. How small can we make a QR code? 👀

Australian helps build world's smallest QR code

Setting 'an unofficial record' at atomic scale.

ia.acs.org.au

We had the Ferrari x Jony Ive collab, and now we've got HP's limited edition Ferrari laptop, which will cost a whopping $8,049 in Australia. There's a glass bottom showing the fans and processor, some carbon fibre, a 3K touch OLED with "custom Ferrari user experience" - even a Ferrari power adapter

New from me: Australia is getting Claude Mythos Preview. A spokesperson for the Australian Signals Directorate said the intelligence agency welcomed Anthropic’s expansion of Project Glasswing to include the Australian government and some private companies. Story on @information-age.bsky.social:

Anthropic gives Mythos AI to Australia's cyber defenders

Unreleased model to test national security and infrastructure.

ia.acs.org.au

Around one in 10 Australians are running AI agents on a dedicated device, according to a survey by analysts at Telsyte. “Among those who chose a computer for this purpose, more than 40 per cent opted for Apple silicon, a share considerably above Mac's overall market share in Australian households."

Information Age@information-age.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Chipmaker Nvidia says its new PC “superchip” called RTX Spark will bring on-device AI agents to consumers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system this year, in what’s seen as a major challenge to the likes of Apple, Intel, and AMD. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Professionals Australia director Paul Inglis told me that while the organisation welcomed WiseTech’s narrowing of its non-compete clause, the union believes employees “should be free to take up employment in their profession without unnecessary restrictions”. Story on @information-age.bsky.social:

Sacked WiseTech staff banned from four rival firms

Laid-off employees barred from joining key competitors.

ia.acs.org.au

Tensions have boiled over at WiseTech Global, where the Australian-founded software company’s CEO has allegedly been threatened with violence as staff raise concerns over the firm’s handling of AI-focused layoffs. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

WiseTech's 'damaging' AI layoffs hit by scandal

After 'an agonising wait', accusations fly as staff are cut.

ia.acs.org.au

New from me: The ABS must strengthen its cybersecurity preparedness ahead of the 2026 Census in August, an audit of the government agency’s ICT environment has found. “The ABS must address key remaining cybersecurity vulnerabilities by ensuring critical activities will be completed in time.”

Cybersecurity issues facing Australia's 2026 Census

ABS 'must address' ICT vulnerabilities, audit finds.

ia.acs.org.au

NEW: “Anti-tech extremism” is now actively being monitored by US law enforcement as frustration over AI and data centers percolate across the country, according to records obtained by @wired.com. @drboguslaw.bsky.social has the scoop. No paywall bc FOIA www.wired.com/story/us-law...

US Law Enforcement Warns of ‘Anti-Tech Extremism’ as AI Hatred Grows

As Americans stew over the looming risk of job-stealing AI and data centers in their back yards, the feds are raising the alarm about a new category of threat, documents obtained by WIRED show.

wired.com

Happy to confirm that the Ferrari Luce doesn't need to be upside down to plug into its charger.

Information Age@information-age.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Ferrari has unveiled its first fully electric vehicle, the Luce, which was co-designed by former Apple design chief Jony Ive and Australian industrial designer Marc Newson. Read more: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

New from me: AI tools are reducing Australia’s academic standards and being used to automate some entry-level jobs, leading to fewer roles available for recent university graduates, a Senate inquiry has heard. Story on @information-age.bsky.social: ia.acs.org.au/article/2026...

Students fear AI killing graduate jobs and skills

Senate inquiry hears warnings on automation.

ia.acs.org.au

It seems like more and more Australian are having the experience outlined in the new Guardian story down below. Here's our @information-age.bsky.social piece from last year:

Kobi refused a doctor's AI. She was told to go elsewhere

Unregulated AI scribes raising privacy, security concerns.

ia.acs.org.au

Guardian Australia@australia.theguardian.com · 3mo ago

Melbourne psychiatrist refuses new patients who don’t consent to AI note-taking

Incredible stuff. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...