Employment Hero CEO Calls for Australia to Build Sovereign AI Capability to Empower Local Workers and Businesses

Ben Thompson: Australia has a narrow window to become a maker of frontier AI, not just a customer of it.

SYDNEY, September 2026 – As public debate around artificial intelligence grows, Employment Hero co-founder and CEO Ben Thompson is calling on Australia to shift the narrative around AI, moving away from fear and toward national empowerment by building a sovereign frontier AI lab. 

Acknowledging widespread community anxiety that AI poses a threat to jobs and traditional ways of life, Thompson argues that AI must instead be developed and treated as a vital, permanent resource designed to give Australian workers and businesses “superpowers”.

“It is completely understandable why so many Australians view AI with scepticism or worry about their livelihoods. But AI is not a trend that will fade, nor should it be a threat controlled by overseas tech giants. If we build it ourselves with our values, AI becomes a powerful national resource that enhances human capability rather than replacing it, giving every worker and small business the tools to thrive.”

Thompson argues Australia has a narrow but critical window to move from being merely a buyer of foreign technology to a builder and owner of frontier AI. Under the proposal, sovereign AI would be treated as a public good where every Australian shares directly in the upside. 

Every Australian could receive an equal, transparent stake in the resulting AI entity or fund through simple accounts integrated with the superannuation system, returning dividends, super contributions or tax credits. Additionally, Australian authors, artists, news organisations and other data owners who choose to contribute their work to training sovereign models would receive direct shares or ongoing royalties. To power this capability, the proposal calls for running a global talent competition in alignment with the government’s newly established Office of AI, supporting programs that enable faster visa processing, and providing government seed funding for the compute and hosting infrastructure a competitive lab needs.

“This only works if every Australian gets something out of it, not just tech companies,” Thompson said. “If we build this the right way, AI will be a tool that elevates Australian workers, and a win for Australian AI will be a win that shows up in people’s superannuation.”

Employment Hero supports more than 350,000 businesses, 2.5 million employees and 2.3 million job seekers globally. This provides the company with real-time, data-driven insights into how AI is shifting hiring trends, skill requirements and workplace productivity built directly from its own data. Having already rebuilt its operating model to deeply embed AI across its own 1,800-person team, Employment Hero offers tested insights on how technology can support human talent rather than displace it. 

“Every other country is arguing about whether to build this or fearing what comes next. Australia has a chance to step up, protect its workers and build a capability that serves our nation first,” Thompson added. 

“The establishment of the government’s Office of AI creates a clear window for Australia to act. By launching a global talent competition, streamlining visa pathways for top researchers and investing in local compute infrastructure, the Office of AI can help build a sovereign capability that puts cutting-edge tools directly into the hands of local businesses and workers.”

The full proposal detailing how the lab could be built and how its benefits could be shared with every Australian is available at Employment Hero.