The Geostrategic Case for Compute in Australia — Janet Egan [Compute Series]

This is the second episode in a multi-part series called 'Compute in Australia'. Series announcement here. More episodes to follow over the coming month.

[Recorded 24 August 2026.]

Janet Egan is Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, DC. Her research focuses on the national security implications of artificial intelligence. She was previously the inaugural director of policy in Australia's Office of Supply Chain Resilience.

I caught up with Janet while she was home in Australia to stress-test the strategic case for building a large compute industry here. We discuss why training compute gives Australia more leverage than inference compute, whether hosting compute could also give us influence over AI safety, why copyright is a red line for the AI companies, and why Australia's window to act is "a month or months, rather than a year". 

Sponsors

• e61: a non-partisan economic research institute focused on Australian public policy. To receive a copy of the new essay I co-authored with e61 on data centres and the compute economy, go to https://www.e61.in/joewalker.
• Vanta: helps businesses automate security and compliance needs. For a limited time, get one thousand dollars off Vanta at https://www.vanta.com/joe. Use the discount code "JOE".

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