Capital Brief

A new artificial intelligence tool trialled by ASIC has flagged suspicious accounting activity among 32 of Australia’s largest companies, uncovering potential financial manipulation and fraud on the ASX. Capital Brief can reveal that the corporate regulator has been using Transparently.AI, an AI fraud detection tool that claims to be able to accurately identify "the next Enron" years before it implodes. Hamish Macalister, PhD, founder of Transparently told Jack Derwin that his models have identified four companies on the bourse which are at risk of collapse. These companies collectively represent a market value exceeding $10 billion. Read more 👇

Mark Carnegie is warning Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January leaves Australian policymakers just 60 days to sort out a cryptocurrency agenda. If they don't, Australia faces missing out on substantial economic gains, the fund manager and VC says. Carnegie, who in 2021 founded digital assets firm MHC Digital Group, also told Daniel Van Boom and Jennifer Duke that he has been personally "debanked" — which he suspects is due to his involvement with cryptocurrency. Read the full story 👉 https://lnkd.in/gJWGtk5c

Scoop: Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones is next week set to reveal plans for an ex-ante regime, a policy framework designed to curb anti-competitive behaviour by tech giants including Meta, Google and Amazon. Story with John Buckley in Capital Brief https://lnkd.in/gEguqqnn

SCOOP: A coalition of Australian media organisations has formed an alliance to collectively negotiate with global artificial intelligence firms, such as OpenAI and Google. The goal is to secure compensation for the use of their content in training large language models. Seven West Media is the largest commercial entity in the alliance, which also includes the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Australia and ACM, which owns significant regional assets such as The Canberra Times and Newcastle Herald. Read more in this story from John Buckley 👉 https://lnkd.in/gpHqh27x

What went wrong at Swoop Aero? Read Daniel Van Boom's deep dive 👇

Scale Investors Pty Ltd, an 11-year-old Australian angel investment group focused on women-led startups, is raising a $100 million fund following a management buyout by four senior women executives. That will make it one of the few women-led venture funds in Australia targeting the gender funding gap. The buyout, which happened 18 months ago, transformed Scale from a not-for-profit to a for-profit venture firm. The new owners — Samar Mcheileh, Roo Harris, Chelsea N. and Solai Valliappan — are now leveraging Scale's existing portfolio of over 30 companies to attract institutional capital. Read more in this story from Bronwen Clune 👉 https://lnkd.in/gShH6KbM

Scoop: Labor is finalising a package of media reforms which tackles Meta’s decision to end commercial deals with publishers and establishes a new regime to guide journalism-related policy, with the matter canvassed at cabinet on Monday. Story from me and John Buckley 👇

Fortescue’s innovation chief and former CSIRO head Larry Marshall says the company remains committed to its hydrogen dreams despite major setbacks. Earlier this year, Fortescue announced it was abandoning its goal of producing 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030, saying production costs still had a way to fall before it made business sense. But Marshall told Jack Derwin the company is quietly pressing ahead with its most ambitious energy project to date. “We're figuring it out, we're proving it works, and we are investing in some bigger projects, for example, in other parts of the world where the cost of green electrons is lower,” he said. Read the full story 👉 https://lnkd.in/gmpKgths

US equity management platform Carta has soft-launched in Australia, opening its Sydney HQ this week to capitalise on what it describes as “the country’s growing startup ecosystem”. Carta currently manages nearly US$3 trillion in equity for over two million stakeholders worldwide and sees Australia — ranked 11th on the Global Startup Ecosystem Index — as a key growth market. According to Carta’s investment stats, Australian startups raised nearly $2 billion in the first half of 2023, a 30% year-on-year increase. AI and big data companies accounted for $75 to $100 million of this funding. "Australia is one of the few markets in the world that actually produces global B2B players," said Bhavik Vashi, Carta's managing director for Asia Pacific and Middle East. Read more in this story from Bronwen Clune 👉 https://lnkd.in/g6b2hkNj

Are the new "right to disconnect laws" having any impact in your industry? When the laws came into effect in August, law firms began speculating whether they would upend a profession known for long hours and client demands. So far the answer seems to be not exactly. Or, at least, not yet. But at a time when younger lawyers are increasingly questioning the gruelling path to partnership, the measures are still being seen as a wake-up call for firms as they consider how they can hold onto more junior lawyers in the long term. Laurel Henning spoke to Hicksons Lawyers' Helen Sexton, Bird & Bird's Kristy Peacock-Smith and Lander & Rogers' Chloe Rattray about how the new laws will — or won't — affect the legal industry for this week's Prime Facie newsletter 👇