Can we force data centres to clean up their act? episode artwork

EPISODE · May 8, 2026 · 29 MIN

Can we force data centres to clean up their act?

from Download This Show · host Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Book publishers including Hachette and Macmillan have filed a lawsuit in New York against Mark Zuckerberg and Meta. They're trying to stop AI companies from allegedly illegally copying millions of books and articles from piracy sites to train their models. How likely is it that the case will succeed?Locally, there's a NSW inquiry into data centres. Can a state government actually force some of the world's most powerful companies to clean up their act?And hard drive shortages driven by AI is making archiving the internet more expensive.If you want to learn more about whether Australia has the energy and water to power the Australian AI data centre boom, we covered it on an earlier Download This Show episode.GUESTS:Meg Coffey – founder of State of Social.Leigh Stark – the editor of Pickr.com.au.------------This episode was produced on the lands of the Burramattagal people.------------Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] all the episodes of Download This Show on the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published May 8, 2026

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Can we force data centres to clean up their act?

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