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Australia issues guidance for government use of agentic AI

Australia’s Digital Transformation Agency (DTA) has issued an agentic AI addendum to its AI Technical Standard, providing guidance for government agencies exploring, developing or deploying agentic AI systems. The document provides best-practice guidance for agencies exploring, developing, or using agentic AI and states that existing requirements in the AI technical standard remain applicable.

The addendum says agentic AI systems may autonomously plan tasks, coordinate work, and trigger actions in real-world contexts. The addendum notes that agentic AI could improve the responsiveness, efficiency and consistency of public services, particularly in high-volume administrative environments, while also introducing new risks related to oversight, control and system behaviour.

The guidance defines agentic AI as systems capable of perceiving and interpreting their environment, maintaining an internal state, reasoning about objectives and autonomously executing actions within defined permissions and constraints. Agencies are advised to implement human oversight, operational safeguards, continuous evaluation processes and mechanisms that allow systems to be rolled back when necessary.

The addendum sets out guidance across the AI lifecycle, including governance and safeguards, memory management, workflow design, secure data exchange, technology selection, evaluation, tool integration, monitoring, and decommissioning. It also calls for clear human accountability, human-in-the-loop or human-on-the-loop oversight, auditable decision records, and orchestration layers.

The guidance recommends ongoing monitoring of agent behaviour, tool usage, memory functions, operational costs, latency, authorisations and changes in the operating environment. The addendum also recommends centralised oversight mechanisms, referred to as ‘control towers’, and calls for the secure decommissioning of agentic AI resources, including agents, associated data, memory stores, tools and system logs.

Why does it matter?

Agentic AI represents a shift from AI systems that generate outputs in response to prompts to systems capable of planning, coordinating tasks and taking actions with limited human intervention. While these capabilities could improve efficiency and service delivery, they also create new governance, accountability and security challenges.

Australia’s guidance reflects growing international efforts to establish safeguards for increasingly autonomous AI systems. The emphasis on human oversight, auditability and lifecycle governance highlights concerns that public-sector AI deployments must remain transparent, controllable and accountable as the technology evolves.

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OpenAI advocates for global action on youth AI safety

OpenAI has called for stronger international action on youth AI safety, including the creation of a dedicated institute to support common evidence, guidance, and safeguards for young users.

Ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in Évian, France, the company said governments, researchers, civil society, and industry should work together to raise standards for safe and age-appropriate AI use by children and teenagers.

OpenAI said a dedicated youth AI safety institute could provide continuity beyond a single summit, helping stakeholders share evidence, develop guidance, and keep standards aligned with fast-moving AI systems. The company said such a body could take the form of a new international institute or an existing or newly created national AI institute with a global mandate.

The principles outlined by OpenAI include privacy-preserving age estimation, default safeguards when a user’s age is uncertain, annual youth safety risk assessments, accessible parental controls, clearer transparency about youth protections, and stronger protocols for serious safety situations involving self-harm, exploitation, grooming, sexually exploitative content, and other high-risk interactions.

The company also called for stronger protection of minors’ personal information, including prohibitions on privacy-invasive targeted advertising to young people and the sale of their personal information. It also said youth safety frameworks should promote AI literacy, learning, creativity, skill development, and future opportunities.

OpenAI said AI tools can help young people understand difficult concepts, practise languages, improve writing, learn to code, organise research, explore creative ideas, and prepare for changing labour markets. However, it argued that safeguards, family and educator guidance, and clear accountability mechanisms such as independent audits should support access.

The proposal builds on existing youth safety initiatives and education partnerships, including work with Common Sense Media, educators, and national education deployments in countries such as Estonia, Greece, and Singapore.

Why does it matter?

Youth AI safety is becoming a central policy issue as children and teenagers increasingly use AI tools for learning, creativity, social interaction, and everyday digital tasks. OpenAI’s proposal adds to pressure for international coordination on age-appropriate design, privacy, parental controls, safety protocols, and independent accountability. The G7 context also shows that youth AI safety is moving from product policy into broader debates over digital governance and education policy.

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ILO chief calls for human-centred AI governance at labour conference

International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo has called for a human-centred approach to AI at the opening of the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva. He said the future of work would depend not only on technological advances, but also on the policies, institutions and social dialogue shaping their impact on people’s lives.

Drawing on his report ‘A Moment of Choice: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Decent Work‘, Houngbo outlined an agenda focused on rights, employment and skills, social protection, and social dialogue. He argued that productivity gains generated by AI should be shared through higher wages, stronger labour protections and more inclusive economic growth.

Houngbo warned that decisions taken today would determine whether AI expands opportunity and shared prosperity or contributes to greater inequality and insecurity. He also situated AI governance within a broader context of economic uncertainty, citing ILO estimates that a prolonged oil-price shock could reduce global working hours by the equivalent of millions of full-time jobs and lead to significant labour income losses by 2027.

Delegates will also hold a second discussion on decent work in the platform economy, with the aim of developing new international labour standards. The draft Convention and Recommendation cover employment promotion, protections for digital platform workers, and provisions relating to automated systems used by digital labour platforms.

Delegates from governments, employers, and workers will also address gender equality, social dialogue, tripartism, and the application of labour standards. The conference, which brings together representatives from the ILO’s 187 Member States, will run until 12 June.

Why does it matter?

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into workplaces, governments, employers and workers are debating how productivity gains, skills requirements and labour protections should evolve. The ILO’s focus on human-centred AI reflects growing international efforts to ensure that technological change supports decent work rather than exacerbating inequality.

The discussions are also significant because they could influence future international labour standards for platform work and the use of automated systems in employment, helping shape how AI affects workers worldwide.

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OECD examines national security limits in competition enforcement

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has published a policy paper examining how national security considerations are increasingly influencing competition enforcement across a growing range of sectors.

The report highlights the impact of geopolitical developments, technological change, and stronger attention to economic security, resilience, and technological capability. National security issues are increasingly intersecting with competition policy in areas such as energy, telecommunications, and advanced technologies.

The paper explores how competition authorities should address these concerns while maintaining their established legal and analytical responsibilities. It argues that security concerns should be assessed by competition authorities only where they can be expressed as competition-relevant effects under established competition law tools.

Concerns that fall outside the analytical remit of competition authorities should instead be assessed by governments or specialised bodies, according to the OECD.

The paper proposes an analytical framework to distinguish between national security concerns that can be examined through competition law and those that require separate institutional assessment.

Drawing on cross-jurisdictional experience, the OECD examines how national security considerations can arise in assessments of competitive constraints, merger control, coordinated conduct, unilateral conduct, and remedy design.

The paper concludes that preserving clear institutional roles, legal predictability, analytical boundaries, and effective enforcement will become increasingly important as national security considerations continue to shape economic policymaking.

Why does it matter?

The paper reflects a growing tension in competition policy: governments increasingly view sectors such as energy, telecommunications, and advanced technologies through a national security lens, but competition authorities still need clear legal boundaries. OECD’s framework aims to prevent competition enforcement from becoming a catch-all tool for broader security or industrial policy concerns, while still allowing authorities to consider security-related issues when they have measurable competition effects.

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OECD examines local conditions for trustworthy AI transition

The OECD is advancing work on AI and the local conditions needed for a trustworthy, ethical, and sustainable transition, focusing on how countries, regions, and cities can develop AI solutions adapted to local needs.

The project, ‘Seizing the full potential of AI: the local factor’, examines how AI is affecting business functions, public governance, jobs, labour markets, and regional economies. The OECD says generative AI has lowered some barriers to adoption by enabling the use of pre-trained models, but uptake remains uneven across places, people, and firms.

The organisation links stronger AI adoption to innovation-leading regions, especially global technology hubs connected to specialised knowledge networks and global value chains. Regions with weaker innovation performance appear to use AI less and adopt it more slowly, while workforce skills act as both an enabler and a barrier to adoption.

The OECD warns that uneven diffusion could affect competitiveness and territorial cohesion, particularly because technology gaps can be difficult to close once they widen. Businesses, regional governments, and cities also face challenges in integrating AI into legacy systems, adapting labour markets, revising skills and employment policies, financing the transition, and managing risks linked to employment, the environment, land use, and natural resources.

The project focuses on place-based AI strategies, local employment and skills needs, regional development policy, and smart and inclusive cities. Its work aims to help national and subnational policymakers assess AI readiness, strengthen stakeholder engagement, and build the policy capacity needed to support broader AI diffusion.

Why does it matter?

The OECD’s work highlights a key risk in AI adoption: technological divides may become territorial divides. If leading innovation hubs move faster while weaker regions lack skills, infrastructure, financing, or institutional capacity, AI could widen gaps in competitiveness, public service quality, and labour market outcomes. Place-based AI strategies can help policymakers tailor adoption, skills, and investment policies to local conditions rather than relying on one-size-fits-all national approaches.

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Anthropic opens Milan office, highlights responsible AI development

The US AI company, Anthropic, has announced the opening of a new office in Milan, expanding its European presence alongside existing locations in London, Dublin, Paris, Zurich and Munich. The company says the Italian office will support enterprises, developers and researchers adopting Claude AI while contributing to broader discussions about the societal impact of AI.

The announcement comes shortly after the publication of Pope Leo XIV’s AI-focused encyclical ‘Magnifica Humanitas’. Anthropic highlighted the participation of co-founder Chris Olah in the Vatican presentation, where he discussed the ethical challenges associated with advanced AI and called for wider involvement from governments, academia, civil society and religious institutions in shaping AI’s future.

Anthropic says its technology has already been adopted by several major Italian organisations, including Generali Group, Unipol Group, Angelini Pharma, Bracco Group, Enel Group and Pirelli.

The company also highlighted partnerships with Italian technology firms. According to Anthropic, JAKALA deployed Claude across more than 3,000 users, while Satispay and Bending Spoons have integrated Claude into software development workflows to accelerate engineering and product development.

Anthropic says the Milan office will help support the AI ecosystem of Italy while encouraging broader debate about how advanced AI technologies should be developed and deployed responsibly.

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ITU puts AI and creativity in focus at Geneva summit

The International Telecommunication Union will place AI and digital creativity in the spotlight during the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, where artists, musicians, filmmakers, and technologists will discuss how AI is reshaping creative industries.

The summit’s AI Creativity and Culture track will explore questions around ownership, authenticity, copyright, and the growing role of generative AI in artistic production. Sessions will examine how AI tools are affecting media, music, publishing, design, fashion, entertainment, journalism, and creative labour.

High-profile participants include John Legend, who will discuss AI and music with Universal Music Group’s Michael Nash, and will.i.am, who will focus on skills, education, and AI. The programme will also feature AI-driven art installations, robotic musical performances, and screenings during the AI for Good Film Festival.

The festival, now in its second year, has received more than 1,200 contest submissions, with selected films to be shown during the summit. The programme will also include the third edition of Canvas of the Future, ITU’s AI-powered art contest, focused on how AI is shaping the future of education and work.

Organised by ITU with partners across the UN system and co-convened with Switzerland, AI for Good is intended to demonstrate AI solutions for people, planet, and prosperity. The 2026 creative programme reflects growing international attention to how AI is changing cultural production, intellectual property, and the economics of creative work.

Why does it matter?

The programme shows how AI governance debates are expanding beyond safety, productivity, and infrastructure into culture, copyright, ownership, and creative labour. By bringing together artists, entertainment companies, technologists, and UN actors in a single forum, AI for Good is treating AI creativity as both an economic opportunity and a policy challenge.

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US Census Bureau reports higher AI adoption among larger firms

The US Census Bureau has published new findings from its Business Trends and Outlook Survey, showing that AI use among US businesses remained between 17% and 20% from December 2025 to May 2026.

The survey also found that between 20% and 23% of businesses expected to use AI within the next six months. The data were collected between 14 December 2025 and 3 May 2026 and provide a biweekly, nationally representative view of AI implementation across US businesses.

AI adoption was higher among larger firms. Around 37% of businesses with at least 250 employees reported using AI in their operations, while 32% of firms with 100 to 249 employees reported AI use during the data collection period ending 3 May 2026.

The Census Bureau said AI use increased among firms with at least 20 employees between December 2025 and May 2026, but did not change significantly among firms with fewer than 20 employees. Less than 20% of firms with four or fewer employees reported using AI.

Sector-level findings showed that AI use remained above the national average in the Information and Finance and Insurance sectors. As of 3 May 2026, AI use reached 39.7% in Information and 33.9% in Finance and Insurance, compared with a national rate of 19.8%.

Retail Trade businesses reported lower adoption rates, with around 14% currently using AI and about 17% expecting to use it within six months.

The Census Bureau also noted that its updated AI supplement now measures AI use across 15 business functions, including finance, human resources, customer service, marketing, information technology, and research and development. The supplement also examines AI-related operational changes, including training, workflow adjustments, and technology investments.

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New Zealand issues AI guidance to speed up regulatory work

New Zealand’s Ministry for Regulation in New Zealand has issued guidance encouraging public regulators to adopt AI for low-risk administrative tasks while maintaining human oversight and accountability. The guidance highlights low-risk uses, including case triage, prioritisation, and structured data validation. The framework is designed to help public agencies work faster while maintaining accountability and human oversight.

Officials stressed that AI should support rather than replace human judgement in regulatory decision-making. The document states that legal interpretation and final accountability must remain with human decision-makers, particularly in high-risk or complex cases.

The guidance also warns that introducing AI into poorly designed regulatory systems could amplify existing inefficiencies rather than resolve them.

The framework presents AI adoption as a strategic governance issue rather than solely a technical upgrade. Regulators are encouraged to establish clear objectives, safeguards, and accountability mechanisms, including transparency, fairness, privacy protections, and alignment with Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles.

Why does it matter?

New Zealand’s approach highlights a wider global shift where governments are using AI to improve public sector efficiency, but only within tightly defined boundaries. The focus on low-risk uses and human oversight reflects a growing view that automation can improve efficiency without replacing legal accountability.

The guidance also underscores a structural reality: AI can amplify existing strengths or weaknesses in regulatory systems. Countries that fail to modernise risk scaling inefficiencies, while strong oversight can help AI improve consistency, transparency and service delivery.

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New OECD measure compares AI and job capabilities

The OECD has published a new framework designed to assess how closely current AI capabilities align with the requirements of different occupations.

The paper, ‘The OECD AI Exposure Measure‘, maps OECD AI Capability Indicators to occupations and introduces an AI Capability Gap Index. According to the OECD, the framework is intended to support analysis of potential AI impacts on work, skills, education, and labour-market policy.

The framework compares AI capabilities with occupational requirements across nine domains: language, social interaction, problem-solving, creativity, metacognition and critical thinking, knowledge, learning and memory, vision, manipulation, and robotic intelligence. Occupations with smaller capability gaps are considered more exposed to current AI capabilities, while larger gaps indicate a greater distance between AI systems and occupational requirements.

The OECD emphasised that the measure is not intended as a prediction of automation or job loss. It measures potential exposure to current AI capabilities, while actual labour-market effects will also depend on adoption, costs, task structure, regulation, organisational uptake, and social choices.

The report found that occupations involving routine information processing and administrative tasks currently show the highest levels of AI exposure. Office and administrative support occupations record the lowest total gap index, followed by production, food preparation and serving, and sales-related occupations.

Occupations relying more heavily on judgement, social interaction, interpretation, and non-standardised physical activity showed larger capability gaps.

The paper also noted that different forms of AI may affect occupations differently depending on whether work relies more on reasoning, communication, robotics, or physical interaction.

The OECD said the framework could support future task-level analysis, scenario modelling, and country-specific assessments of AI-related labour-market change. Future work may extend the approach to task-level analysis, scenario applications, macroeconomic modelling, and country-level assessments.

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