Australia news live: government starts assessing risks of frontier AI models as minister rules out new safety laws

According to The Guardian, Australia's government has begun assessing the risks posed by frontier AI models, though the assistant minister Andrew Charlton says it will lean on laws already on the books rather than pass new safety legislation. On the defence front, deputy prime minister Richard Marles said Australia remains deeply concerned after China conducted a long-range missile test that China itself describes as nuclear capable. Marles said he doubts the test was timed as a response to prime minister Anthony Albanese's Pacific visit to sign a new defence pact with Fiji, but called the demonstration of extended nuclear reach deeply destabilising. He pointed to what he described as a dramatic Chinese military buildup without any strategic reassurance to the region, and said there was no clear explanation for the capabilities being developed.

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