South Australia is the first state with an assistant minister dedicated to artificial intelligence after the Malinauskas government created a new position in minor ministry changes on Wednesday.
Former computer programmer Michael Brown picked up the new duties as Assistant Minister to the Premier for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Digital Economy.
Mr Brown, a former Labor state secretary and chief of staff to then-Premier Jay Weatherill, has been working behind the scenes to promote the AI opportunity and his appointment has buoyed industry insiders.
The new assistant minister led a parliamentary inquiry in 2023 that backed calls to develop sovereign artificial intelligence capability to ensure the state can reap the economic benefits and mitigate security risks.

South Australia is home to Australia’s leading AI research outfit, the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML), which was launched and supported with millions in state government funding in 2018 and again last year.
It is now generating returns for partner companies and along with the state’s merging universities is part of an AI workforce push.
Founding director of the AIML, Professor Anton van den Hengel, said the elevation of AI in the Malinauskas government is another sign the state is serious about the technology.
“The state government has really seen a good return on investment and it’s now doubling down. I think this shows a real strength of commitment,” Professor van den Hengel told InnovationAus.com.
Mr Brown has been tasked with securing South Australia’s place in the global race to scale up and adopt AI just as it is being disrupted by breakthroughs like Chinese disruptor DeepSeek and fracturing regulatory approaches.
In 2023, a state inquiry into AI established and led by Mr Brown was one the first in Australia and delivered bipartisan recommendations to develop sovereign capabilities and start training or reskilling more workers in the technology.
The final report also called for a plan to make South Australia the premier destination for AI investment. Investment in AI infrastructure at the biggest companies has jumped almost US$70 billion since the report and is tipped to have doubled to US$246 billion by next year.
Professor van den Hengel said Mr Brown should focus on using AI to unlock value in existing data and create attractive conditions for more companies to set up in the state.
“I think that unlocking the value in the data that we hold in South Australia is critical and [so is] trying to provide some certainty about beneficial conditions for AI enabled companies that want to set up in South Australia,” he said.
Mr Brown was unavailable for comment.
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