Australia and US Pledge to Build ‘Innovation Alliance’

During an official state visit last week, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Joe Biden affirmed the countries’ commitment to science and technology cooperation and outlined new directions for an “innovation alliance” focused on emerging technologies, space cooperation, and clean energy.

A White House fact sheet released in conjunction with the visit outlines an array of new cooperative initiatives, such as a $6.2 million AI research partnership between the National Science Foundation and an Australian agency that will seek “responsible and ethical AI solutions to address pandemic preparedness, drought resilience, and other societal challenges.”

The two nations also recently committed $16.3 million to climate and clean energy research through NSF’s Global Centers initiative, and Australia and the Department of Energy plan to jointly fund research on grid modernization technology and long-duration energy storage through the Net Zero Technology Acceleration Partnership established in 2022.

In addition, Los Alamos National Lab and the Australian National University signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation in research and education between the two countries.