Defence says its AI adoption has hit 'absolute acceleration'

The department's new chief AI officer told a parliamentary committee he favours strong open-source models paired with well-built connections to Defence systems.

2 November 2026 1 min read tech.sydney newsroom

Defence’s chief AI and information officer, Chris Crozier, told a joint select committee on AI that the department’s adoption of AI has accelerated sharply over the past three months.

Crozier had been Defence CIO since mid-2023. He was given the chief AI officer role about 12 weeks before the hearing, appointed directly by the Defence secretary and the Chief of the Defence Force.

What he said

In his first three months he interviewed more than 60 Defence staff who are actively using AI.
Defence relies on the Australian Signals Directorate to broker access to frontier AI models.
Defence should work with Five Eyes partners on AI.
He favours pairing a strong open-source model with a well-built harness that connects the model to Defence’s systems and data.

Sources

iTnews

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