Technology - Topic
Google will launch its Gemini AI chatbot for Australian children under 13 within months, the ABC can reveal. The announcement has prompted calls for the government to consider banning AI chatbots for children.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
7NEWS
25 minutes ago
- 7NEWS
Wong clarifies Australia's stance on Trump bombing Iranian nuclear sites
Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek have confirmed to Sunrise that the Albanese government does support President Trump's strikes on Iran's three nuclear sites. The issue of support had become controversial after the Australian government released a statement on Sunday, following the bombing attacks by US B-2 stealth bombers and submarines, that was silent on the issue. WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Penny Wong confirms Australia's support for US strike on Iran. 'We note the US president's statement that now is the time for peace,' the statement read. 'The security situation in the region is highly volatile. We continue to call for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy.' But early Monday morning Plibersek cleared up the confusion, which had become a point of attack for the Coalition, who had described the Albanese Government's statement as 'ambiguous'. 'Yes we do support the strike ... we certainly don't want to see full-scale war in the Middle East as it is a delicate and difficult time,' Plibersek said. 'We would encourage Iran to come back to the negotiating table. We've been saying that for some time now, along with the rest of the intenational community. 'No one wants to see Iran develop a nuclear weapon, we know they have been enriching uranium towards that goal. 'Now is the time for reinvigorated efforts towards diplomacy, because a full-scale war in the Middle East would be a terrible thing.' 7NEWS understands Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will convene the National Security Committee of Cabinet, and will address the nation later this morning. The National Security Committee, officially known as the National Security Committee of Cabinet, is the paramount decision-making body for national security and major foreign policy (including usage of the Australian Defence Force) matters in the Australian Government. Foreign Minister Penny Wong says what happens next is crucial. 'We need to avert an escalation to full-scale war,' Wong said to Sunrise. 'I am sure you will be hearing from the prime minister later today.'
ABC News
28 minutes ago
- ABC News
Australia backs US strikes on Iran while urging return to diplomacy
Australia has given its support to US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities but has repeated calls for de-escalation to avoid a wider war. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Monday Australia was in favour of any action to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, after the government had initially adopted a more cautious tone, declining to give its explicit support. "The world has agreed Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, so yes, we support action to prevent that, and that is what this is," she told ABC AM, citing a UN watchdog finding that Iran had acquired enriched uranium at "almost military level". Senator Wong said Australia had not received a request for assistance and had been advised that Pine Gap, a shared military facility, had not been engaged. While she declined to speculate on the response to any such request, she said Australia was "deeply concerned" about the prospect of escalation. "The key question for the international community is what happens next … It's obviously a very precarious, risky and dangerous moment the world faces," she said. "Now is the time for diplomacy. Now is the time for de-escalation and that call is to all parties." The National Security Committee, comprised of key ministers, will meet in Canberra this morning. Australia's explicit expression of support for the strikes goes a step further than allies including the UK, Canada and New Zealand, although all three countries have emphasised the risk of Iran gaining nuclear weapons. The Coalition supported the strikes on Sunday and also says it does not want further war, but has put the onus on Iran to negotiate peace. "We want to see Iran come to the negotiating table to verify where that 400 kilos of enriched uranium is," Andrew Hastie told ABC Radio National. Mr Hastie, who is acting as the opposition's foreign affairs spokesperson, said the Australian government had been "flat-footed" but he was pleased by the condemnation. "I'm glad to see that Penny Wong has essentially endorsed our position and I'm glad we have bipartisanship on this," he said. Dave Sharma, a Liberal senator and former Australian ambassador to Israel, said the government's response was "underwhelming and perplexing" on Sunday and that support for the strikes "should be a straightforward position for Australia to adopt". The Greens are against the strike, with defence spokesperson David Shoebridge calling Donald Trump a "warmonger" and demanding Australia clarify it will not get involved. "You cannot bomb your way to peace … and the people who are always going to pay the price are the ordinary people on the street," he said. Paul Foley, a former Australian ambassador to Iran, said Australia's response was "appropriate" but urged a return to diplomacy "as rapidly as possible". "We're moving into uncharted territory … There's a range of factors to be balanced by the Australian and other governments," he said. Mr Foley speculated there were three categories of response from Iran — to do nothing, to launch a "limited" response, or to attack US assets or facilities in the region. "A deal is still possible if both sides want one badly enough. President Trump came to office promising to be a peacemaker, and Iran also has indicated, in the past, a preference for going down the diplomatic path." Senator Wong said Australian officials were stationed at the land border in Azerbaijan to assist any Australians seeking to depart Iran while airspace remained closed, urging them to leave if possible while acknowledging this was "risky". I understand this is a very difficult time for the Australian-Iranian community," she said. About 2,900 Australians in Iran and 1,300 in Israel have registered their desire to leave, and the minister said Australia would move to assist those in Israel to depart by air now that airspace was reopening.
Perth Now
39 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Australia's big call on Iran strikes
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed the Australian government's support for the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on Sunday. Donald Trump confirmed the strikes on three of Iran's nuclear facilities on Sunday, saying the US had dropped a 'full payload of bombs'. Labor did not hold a press conference on Sunday following the strikes, instead issuing comment via a government spokesperson acknowledging Mr Trump's statement while continuing calls for 'de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy'. Asked on Today on Monday morning whether the government supported the strike on Iran, Senator Wong said they 'support action to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon'. 'And that is what this is – so your answer, the answer is yes,' she said. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said Australia supports the US' strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. NewsWire / Brenton Edwards Credit: News Corp Australia 'I've said that upfront.' Host Karl Stefanovic pressed Senator Wong on whether support for the US strike contradicted the government's position of advocating for de-escalation. 'Oh, what I said was Iran had to come to the negotiating table, and we urged Iran to come back to the negotiating table and engage in diplomacy,' Senator Wong said. 'It's the same thing – I think the US President was saying it's the same thing, that Prime Minister Starmer was saying it's the same thing … but we are where we are now. 'The question is what happens next.' Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie promptly shared a joint statement on Sunday, saying the Coalition 'stands with the United States of America today'. 'The Coalition supports actions taken by the United States of America to ensure that the Iranian regime is stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons,' it said. 'While Australians will never seek conflict in the world, we can never forget that the Iranian regime is a militantly theocratic autocracy. 'It expressly seeks the destruction of our allies, enacts extrajudicial killings of political dissidents and brutally represses the rights of women and girls. 'It is the Iranian people who are the victims of this brutal regime and we stand in solidarity with them.' More to come
