Datacentre giant accused of using AI while lobbying for Victorian minister’s support for hyperscale factory

Exclusive: Correspondence requests state MP Melissa Horne to lobby on NextDC’s behalf – but contains alleged AI-created errors

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The Victorian jobs minister has accused one of Australia’s largest datacentre companies of using artificial intelligence while requesting she lobby her colleague to approve a massive expansion of its “hyperscale AI factory”.

Correspondence between Victorian cabinet minister Melissa Horne and the chief executive of ASX-listed company NextDC, Craig Scroggie, reveals increasing sensitivity to community concerns about datacentres before the state election.