Stone & Chalk is proud to announce a new partnership with MLAI, strengthening Melbourne’s position as a leading destination for AI engineers, founders, roboticists, students, researchers and corporate innovators to connect, collaborate and build the future of Australian AI.
This partnership reflects a shared belief that Australia’s AI future will be driven by practical implementation, technical capability and community-led innovation - not just conversations about what AI might become one day.
Stone & Chalk is recognised as the centre of gravity for Australian innovation, supporting startups and scaleups to go further, faster. As the country’s largest innovation community, our mission is to help founders and emerging technology companies grow, commercialise and succeed.
MLAI has built Australia’s most engaged grassroots AI and machine learning communities, bringing together technical practitioners, builders and educators focused on hands-on experimentation, practical learning and real-world application.
By combining MLAI’s deep technical expertise and practical AI programming with Stone & Chalk’s founder ecosystem, commercialisation support and national innovation network, this partnership creates a unique environment for the next generation of Australian AI companies and talent to emerge.
Importantly, this collaboration supports people at every stage of the innovation journey - from curious first-time builders through to experienced founders and scaling AI teams.
Together, Stone & Chalk and MLAI are creating a space for people to move from curiosity to capability, and from capability to outcomes.
“The partnership is focused on helping founders, startups, scaleups, SMEs, corporate teams and ecosystem partners build real workflows, test ideas, share knowledge and create measurable impact through AI technologies,” said Graham McCorkill, Stone & Chalk’s Head of Ecosystem in Victoria.
“It is also about building stronger connections across Victoria’s rapidly growing AI ecosystem - bringing together technical talent, entrepreneurial ambition and practical problem solving in one community.”
This collaboration forms part of Stone & Chalk’s broader national commitment to advancing Australia’s AI ecosystem. Alongside partnerships with organisations including OpenAI and the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML), the collaboration with MLAI further strengthens Stone & Chalk’s role as a national connector for AI founders, engineers, researchers and innovation leaders.
Through this partnership, Stone & Chalk and MLAI will be supporting AI Week Melbourne from June 1–7, bringing together Australia’s AI, robotics and emerging technology community for a week of events, workshops, conferences and hands-on experiences.
AI Week Melbourne is one of the first in a broader series of initiatives, programs and events that Stone & Chalk and MLAI will deliver together as part of a long-term commitment to supporting Australia’s AI ecosystem.
Throughout the week, the Stone & Chalk Melbourne hub will become home to a series of community-led events designed to make AI, robotics and emerging technology more accessible, practical and collaborative.
The week begins on Monday 1 June with a community opening event, followed by Shape of Thoughts (an interactive exhibition blending art, psychology and data) alongside Robotics and AI for everyone (a beginner-friendly event featuring live demos, short talks and conversations with people actively building real-world technologies).
Additional events hosted at Stone & Chalk throughout the week include community meetups, Watt The Hack (a large-scale AI and energy hackathon exploring the relationship between households, energy systems and AI-powered optimisation) and* *Build your first robot (a hands-on robotics workshop where participants will assemble, wire and program their own WiFi-controlled rover with support from experienced builders and facilitators).
The broader AI Week Melbourne program includes the Australian debut of the AI Engineer Melbourne conference at Federation Square, alongside ai × design, a one-day conference exploring how AI and machine learning are reshaping design practice.
Collectively, AI Week Melbourne reflects the kind of ecosystem Stone & Chalk and MLAI are working to build - practical, collaborative, ambitious and accessible.
“I don’t think many Australian’s realise that the majority of Australia’s economy is made up of selling our dirt overseas. This partnership is about creating pathways for more Australians to participate in AI and startups, to make our exports more complex. Ultimately, it is about helping great ideas become real companies. We’re on a mission to help create 1,000 Australian startups by 2030,” said Dr Sam Donegan, President of MLAI Aus.
“Melbourne already has extraordinary technical talent, ambitious founders and a rapidly growing AI community. Through this partnership, Stone & Chalk and MLAI are helping create the momentum, connections and opportunities needed to support this ecosystem as it continues to grow.”
As part of this long-term collaboration, MLAI will also now have a permanent presence within the Stone & Chalk Melbourne hub - creating an ongoing home for the community to gather, collaborate, host events and continue building practical AI capability together.
The future of Australian AI will be built by people who experiment, collaborate and create. We’re excited to help bring that community together.
