Skip to main content

How much, if any, was spent in the 2025/26 financial year in the Minister's departments, agencies, crown entities and any other bodies that the Minister is responsible for, if any, on artificial intelligence, including costs on training staff, deploying systems, maintaining subscriptions and any other associated costs?

Answered Question 38910 (2026)
Question published
Reply lodged

Asked by

Francisco Hernandez

List MP · Green Party

Question

  • How much, if any, was spent in the 2025/26 financial year in the Minister's departments, agencies, crown entities and any other bodies that the Minister is responsible for, if any, on artificial intelligence, including costs on training staff, deploying systems, maintaining subscriptions and any other associated costs?

Answered by

Hon Penny Simmonds

Member for Invercargill · National Party · Minister for Tertiary Education

Answer

The Tertiary Education Commission spent $287,003.74 on artificial intelligence in the 2025/26 financial year. $68,599.88 of this expenditure included artificial intelligence software licences and subscriptions, deployment of artificial intelligence capabilities, specialist advisory services, and costs associated with the artificial intelligence component of the Assessment Tool project. The Assessment Tool included both artificial intelligence and non-artificial intelligence components. The artificial intelligence-related expenditure associated with the project was estimated at $218,403.86, based on a resource-level attribution methodology that assessed the proportion of project effort attributable to artificial intelligence functionality.