SYDNEY — The New South Wales government has reviewed the environmental impact of datacentres, including a planned Sydney computing cluster by OpenAI. Internal communications from the office of NSW Technology Minister Anoulak Chanthivong indicated staff removed the phrase 'absolutely thrilled' from a media statement regarding OpenAI.

A staffer in the NSW Technology Minister's office wrote in an email: "I’m still convinced we’re headed for a Skynet situation in the next 5 years so don’t want to be on record endorsing any ‘golden era’." Funding for technology, particularly involving AI, was a topic of discussion. OpenAI announced its first Australian office in August 2023 and opened it in December 2023. OpenAI has partnered with datacentre operator NextDC to build a computing cluster in Sydney.

NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe stated that Sydney is a "highly desirable location" for datacentres. Documents from a May 2024 meeting included modelling from the NSW Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) on datacentre generator emissions. This modelling indicated that if all eight large datacentres in the Sydney basin ran their generators simultaneously during a power outage, the one-hour air pollution load would be five to six times greater than that of all electricity generation in NSW. The EPA modelling also showed that the one-hour air pollution load would be five to six times greater than that of all motor vehicles in NSW under the same conditions.

Abigail Boyd, NSW Greens MLC and chair of the NSW state datacentres inquiry, stated that current air impact assessments for datacentres underestimated operational hours. In June 2023, Minister Chanthivong met with OpenAI representatives to encourage investment in New South Wales. Talking points for this meeting stated that Sydney attracts 65% of all venture capital in Australia and 45% of all AI businesses in Australia are located in New South Wales.