Artificial Intelligence

NEW YORK : OpenAI has signed a multi-year agreement with Australian AI infrastructure company Firmus to secure computing capacity from two data centres the company is developing in Malaysia, making the ChatGPT developer an anchor customer for the new sites. The deal, announced on September 8, expands Firmus's presence in the Asia-Pacific region, where it already operates AI data centres in Australia and Singapore. The partnership, confirmed by both companies, will see OpenAI contract capacity from the two planned AI 'factories' in Malaysia, a market that has emerged as one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing data centre hubs. The agreement elevates Firmus's total contracted capacity across all customers to more than 900 megawatts. The contract value was not disclosed. "These new data centers in Malaysia will help us serve growing demand for OpenAI's products across the region and around the world" - Sachin Katti, vice president of compute strategy at OpenAI said. Firmus Co-founder and co-Chief Executive Tim Rosenfield said the partnership marked Asia-Pacific becoming a 'producer of AI rather than only a consumer'. Firmus plans to deploy Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin processors at scale across the region, and the Malaysian sites will utilise its HyperCube liquid-cooling infrastructure. The company's portfolio now spans seven AI factories across Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, with five currently under development and targeted to be ready for service over the next 24 months. The deal comes amid a widening race among U.S. and Chinese AI companies to secure power and data centre capacity for increasingly advanced models. It also follows reports that Firmus, valued at more than $10.5 billion in its last fundraising round, is considering an initial public offering this year, which could be one of Australia's largest in recent years . The company is backed by major investors including Nvidia, Jane Street, Blackstone, and Coatue Management.