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Digital Economy Research, Forecasts & Analysis

Macro-level analysis of how digital technology impacts markets, society, and global GDP.

2 analysts coveringLatest publication:October 2026

Coverage in Digital Economy

Digital Economy analysts

23 Oct 2026 · Digital Platforms · Explainer

Apple's Edge-First AI Bet: All the Upside of Open-Weight Models, None of the Frontier Bill

Apple and Meta have confirmed a collaboration bringing Meta’s Muse Spark Open - an 816-billion-parameter, US-developed open-weight model - to run locally across Apple Silicon Mac Studios via Apple’s MLX framework. The deal ends years of public friction between the two companies and is a proof point…

6 Oct 2026 · Digital Regulation · Explainer

How Open-Weight AI Is Redrawing the Frontier - and What China's DeepSeek Moment Means for Australia

The artificial intelligence industry is cleaving into two structurally distinct camps. On one side stand the closed frontier models - proprietary systems from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind, accessed exclusively via metered APIs, with weights that never leave vendor-controlled infrastructur…

23 Sept 2026 · Digital Regulation · Explainer

Is Big Tech Weaponising AI Safety to Crush Open-Source Rivals?

Between 2023 and 2026, the world's AI oligopoly shifted from publishing abstract ethical declarations to submitting comprehensive legislative blueprints to global policymakers. This explainer analyses the AI governance doctrines of Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Meta, IBM, Amazon Web Service…

8 Sept 2026 · Digital Regulation · Report

New Tax Ruling For Global Tech Giants: A Fight We Need To Have

The Australian Taxation Office's royalty ruling TR 2026/2 marks a critical turning point for digital tax equity in Australia, addressing the long-standing tax asymmetry enjoyed by foreign tech giants. By reclassifying cloud computing, streaming, and SaaS revenues as intellectual property royalties,…

4 Sept 2026 · Media · Report

Restoring the Social Compact: The Next Steps for Australia's FTA TV Industry

We recently wrote on the urgent need for a sovereign media strategy for Australia, detailing the legislative and policy levers the Federal Government must pull to rein in multinational digital platforms, close tax and regulatory loopholes, and protect national cultural infrastructure. The policy fa…

29 July 2026 · Digital Infrastructure · Report

Red Stack Rising: Why Chinese Technology Is Winning Australia's Energy Transition

Australia faces a consequential technology choice. Over the five years to 2030, the infrastructure decisions made by households, enterprises, and policymakers in electric vehicles, home and grid-scale batteries, solar generation, and AI compute will lock in supplier relationships and strategic depe…

24 July 2026 · Digital Infrastructure · Explainer

Inside the AI Efficiency Revolution: Why AI Is Getting Cheaper to Run

The Venture Insights report The Great AI Gamble argued that algorithmic efficiency breakthroughs, primarily led by Chinese AI laboratories, could render a significant portion of Australia's 5.4 GW data centre pipeline as phantom demand. This explainer unpacks the engineering behind that argument. I…

16 July 2026 · Digital Infrastructure · Report· Free

Beyond the Green Data Centre: Australia's AI Sovereignty Gap Is In Compute, Not Kilowatts

The Albanese government's July 2026 AI strategy speech at the University of Sydney marks the most significant declaration of AI policy intent in Australian history. Its centrepiece, a legal mandate requiring large-scale data centres to become net-generators of renewable energy, returning at least a…

4 June 2026 · Media · Forecast

Australia Advertising Expenditure Update

We forecast the total advertising market to grow at a 3.6% CAGR over the next five years, stabilised after a period of pandemic and post-pandemic disruption. Overall, the momentum of digital will be blunted by technological disruption. The beneficiaries are the ‘traditional’ media who will improve…

30 Apr 2026 · Enterprise ICT · Report· Free

Microsoft’s $25B Australian Investment: Avoiding AI’s Technology Lock-In

This report analyses the strategic logic of Microsoft’s Australian expansion, the financial necessity of future price hikes, the resulting risks of a global AI oligopoly, and the specific steps Australian firms must take to manage their exposure to this emerging dependency.

2 Apr 2026 · Enterprise ICT · Report· Free

Datagrid’s NZ Data Centre Moves to Implementation - ANZ Becomes Key Node in Global Digital Infrastructure

This report analyses the strategic development of Datagrid’s hyperscale data centre in Southland, New Zealand, and the associated Tasman Ring subsea cable network. It explores how the project leverages New Zealand’s renewable energy and cool climate to create a globally competitive 'AI Factory.' Th…

31 Mar 2026 · Digital Platforms · Report· Free

US Verdicts Hit Meta and YouTube - Implications for ANZ Social Media Regulation

This report analyzes the impact of landmark March 2026 US jury verdicts against Meta and YouTube on social media regulation in Australia and New Zealand. It explores how findings of negligent design and executive knowledge of harm provide a legal foundation for Australia's under-16 social media ban…
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