Three moments in tech that changed the world. One is happening now.

There have been three moments in my lifetime when the digital world shifted beneath my feet.

The first was when the iPhone 3G landed in Australia and I swapped out my old reliable Nokia 3210 to a slab of glass that gave me the whole internet in my pocket.

Then, 15 years later, ChatGPT showed us that computers could communicate in natural language. I knew things would never be the same again.

Right now, people all over the world are installing free, open-source AI agents like OpenClaw that can’t just “talk” but also “do”.

They can access your email and calendar, see all your documents and information, navigate the web, fill in forms, send messages, create accounts and so on. They complete real-world tasks on their own and you don’t have to tell it what to do next.

This is the next leap from using AI like a search engine.

(For the record, I don’t recommend doing it on your own computer, there are some equal parts entertaining and horrifying stories about what an AI agent can do when left to roam free with your information.) 

However, the shift from chatbot to agent is clearly a world-changing moment, and it  has huge implications for what Australia’s digital infrastructure needs to deliver.

The physical reality of AI

AI models feel fast to use, but they’re anything but lightweight – they are massive 24-hour-a-day compute engines, relying on large physical infrastructure like fibre networks, data centres and power and water supply.

AI leaders are also now starting to deploy models that work locally on confidential company data that never has to leave corporate boundaries.

AI inference – where trained models process data and make decisions in real time – requires continuous compute. As Australian industry increases its use of inference, it will work best when it runs locally, not in distant overseas data centres.

In fact, it’s moving away from central hosting to edge deployments on-site at mines, factories, clinics, ports and airports. Real-time decisions can’t wait for data to circumnavigate the globe.

For hyperscalers planning orders-of-magnitude growth and enterprises running mission-critical AI workloads, this creates a direct question: does Australia have the fibre, data centre capacity and power to support local deployment at scale?

Is Australia ready?

The International Energy Agency projects global data centre electricity demand will more than double by 2030, including in Australia. Hyperscalers like Google, Amazon, OpenAI, Meta and Microsoft aren’t looking for yesterday’s fibre networks, they’re now looking for tens to hundreds of fibre pairs on key routes.

Vocus sees this is a key opportunity to deliver the digital infrastructure Australia needs to enable what comes next – the AI and automation productivity revolution.

This is why our infrastructure strategy is built around three priorities: long-haul fibre leadership with high-fibre-count intercapital routes; metro depth with dense data centre interconnection designed for hyperscaler architectures; and connectivity as enduring national infrastructure capable of supporting multiple waves of compute growth.

Project Horizon – our new 2,000-kilometre fibre route from Perth to Port Hedland – is on the cusp of completion. It is the first competitive fibre backbone running through the resource-rich Mid-west and Pilbara regions of Western Australia, engineered for extreme reliability. Importantly, it will introduce choice and break the monopoly on fibre connectivity in the region,  

Built in tandem with NEXTDC's regional data centres, it unlocks the possibility of running AI-intensive workloads locally in a part of Australia that contributes tens of billions of dollars to Australia’s GDP.

We are also delivering Pacific Connect and Australia Connect with Google, building Australia's largest constellation of LEO ground stations, and planning new intercapital routes with potentially hundreds of fibre pairs.

AI is not a future-state challenge. It is a present-tense race for infrastructure. If we build now, both metro and regional Australia will not just participate in the next wave of growth – it will drive it.

I recently spoke about this at the Commsday Regional and Policy forum. You can read my full speech here for the complete picture, including our specific policy recommendations.