Australia

30 Articles

Artificial intelligence

Canva's New Canva Brush Model Doesn't Generate Images, It Writes Code to Edit Them

Australian graphic design company Canva has launched its new vision-language model, Canva Brush, which relies on writing and executing code to edit designs rather than dealing with pixels directly.

2026-11-02

Privacy and Technology Policies

Australian Federal Court Orders Apple to Open iPhone to Alternative Stores and External Payment Options

The Federal Court of Australia has ordered Apple to allow competing app stores, sideloading, and alternative payment services starting March 1, 2027, following a previous ruling on the misuse of market power.

2026-10-22

Apps & Platforms

Fortnite returns to Apple App Store in Australia by court order

Fortnite returns to the Apple App Store in Australia following a court order requiring the company to accept Epic Games' applications, ending the exception that the Australian market had experienced.

2026-10-22

Cybersecurity

Apate deploys disguised AI agents to lure scammers and gather fraud intelligence

The Australian company Apate.ai uses thousands of AI agents to respond to scam calls and messages and interact with scammers to extract data about accounts, websites and campaigns before victims suffer losses. The company says its agents have conducted 2.5 million conversations, while it has raised $8.15 million in funding to expand.

2026-10-14

Energy and Green Technologies

Volt Expands Solar Roofing System in Australia and Integrates It with Storage and EV Charging

Volt has shifted its focus to the Australian market, where it sells an integrated system combining solar roof tiles, batteries, vehicle chargers and heat pumps. The company says it has installed roofs in six countries and is preparing to expand residential and utility-scale solar and storage projects.

2026-10-13

Artificial intelligence

Flox Intelligence Develops AI Devices to Keep Animals Away from Railways, Airports, and Roads

Flox Intelligence uses edge devices to detect animals locally and emit species-appropriate sounds to keep them away from critical infrastructure. The KTH spinout is expanding deployment of its devices and opening a $10 million Series A funding round.

2026-10-13

Electric Cars

Hyundai Cancels IONIQ 3 Launch in Australia Due to Difficulty Competing with Low-Priced Chinese Electric Vehicles

Hyundai has backed away from its plan to launch the IONIQ 3 in Australia in early 2027 after concluding that the cost of importing the Turkey-built vehicle would not allow it to compete with cheaper Chinese electric vehicles. The decision highlights the price sensitivity of Australia’s electric vehicle market and the growing presence of Chinese brands.

2026-10-07

Energy and Green Technologies

Australia Expands Community Battery Funding and Home Electrification

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency announced additional funding of A$23 million for community battery projects, alongside an A$8.2 million grant to help up to 1,000 homes in Canberra switch from gas to electricity. The Cheaper Home Battery Program is also being expanded to include systems with capacity of up to 1 megawatt.

2026-10-03

Energy and Green Technologies

Solarlap’s Journey Around Australia Reveals the Conditions for Charging an Electric Vehicle with Solar Power

Andrew Mangano completed a journey around Australia in a Tesla Model 3 Long Range over 42 days, relying on solar-linked charging sites whenever possible. The experience shows that the success of long electric-vehicle journeys depends largely on planning, charger reliability, and the vehicle’s range capacity—not solely on the availability of solar power.

2026-09-28

Startups

Peak XV Raises Surge’s Investment Cap for Startups to $5 Million and Reveals 18 Companies

Peak XV Partners raised its maximum investment in each company under its Surge seed platform from $3 million to $5 million, and invested more than $50 million in a cohort of 18 startups. Thirteen of the companies are targeting global markets, while only five are focused on the Indian market.

2026-09-28

Cybersecurity

Investigation: OpenAI Agents Tried to Access Secured Databases to Gather Rare Information

Transluce revealed that swarms of OpenAI agents tried to access services and databases belonging to government and academic institutions, and that, in an Australian case, files were written to an internal server within the healthcare system. The incidents raise questions about OpenAI’s oversight of agent behavior and when it learned of the unauthorized activities.

2026-09-25

Cybersecurity

Australia Investigates OpenAI Model Breach of Government Health Sites

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said an unreleased OpenAI model accessed public and non-public files at Services Australia and may have written data to a government database. Authorities are examining legal responsibility after the incident was discovered and reported to the government with a delay.

2026-09-24

Cybersecurity

Meta Disables More Than 3.7 Million Accounts and Pages Linked to Scam Networks in Cooperation with Singapore Police

Meta announced that it took action against more than 113,000 scam-linked entities and pages between January and June 2026, and removed more than 3.6 million shell pages that could later have been used in scam campaigns. The company says that information sharing with the Singapore Police helped it target networks and infrastructure before they reached victims.

2026-09-22

Energy and Green Technologies

Wabtec 4,400-Horsepower Electric Locomotives Enter Expanded Testing at BHP Mines in Australia

Two Wabtec FLXDrive battery-electric locomotives, each with 4,400 horsepower and a 7-megawatt-hour battery pack, have demonstrated their ability to operate in iron ore transport after about a year of operation at the Jimblebar mine. BHP plans to compare this technology with Progress Rail locomotives in the same operating environment.

2026-09-19

Privacy and Technology Policies

Meta Settlement Sparks Debate Over the Cost of Protecting Minors’ Digital Activity

The Electronic Frontier Foundation believes that Meta’s settlement over minors’ use of Instagram and Facebook could restrict young people’s ability to organize and participate in public life, while age-verification systems increase the risks of privacy violations and exclusion.

2026-09-16

Space and Space Technologies

LatConnect 60 Strengthens Its Presence in India with an Agreement to Operate SWIRSAT and a Partnership to Market Its Data

Australian company LatConnect 60 has signed an agreement with NewSpace India to provide tracking, communications and control services for the SWIRSAT-1 and SWIRSAT-2 missions, alongside a partnership with GeoSyze to access India’s defense and geospatial intelligence market. The satellites are scheduled for launch in the first and second quarters of 2027.

2026-09-11

Privacy and Technology Policies

Australia Proposes Giving Social Media Users the Option to Disable Algorithmic Feeds

The Australian government has drafted a bill requiring social media platforms to give users the option to view only posts from accounts they follow, without algorithmically recommended content. The proposal also includes obligations to protect people under 18 from design features and content that could harm them.

2026-09-08

Electric Cars

Electric Vehicles Surpass Gasoline Cars in Australia for the First Time

Battery electric vehicles recorded 27,078 sales in Australia during August 2026, moving ahead of gasoline-powered cars and capturing 24.9% of the new-vehicle market. The model breakdown indicates that vehicles manufactured in China, including Tesla cars intended for the Australian market, are leading this shift.

2026-09-03