Nvidia-Backed Firmus Inks OpenAI Deal for Malaysia Data Centre Capacity

On Tuesday, Sept. 8, Australian AI infrastructure provider Firmus announced a multi-year agreement to deliver computing capacity from two data centers in Malaysia to OpenAI. The deal positions the ChatGPT developer as an anchor client amid surging demand for the physical infrastructure needed to run advanced AI models.

The arrangement precedes a rumored initial public offering by Firmus later this year, which could rank among the largest Australian listings in recent memory.

Firmus was valued at more than $10.5 billion during its most recent capital raise, with backing from Nvidia, Jane Street, Blackstone funds, and Coatue Management.

The OpenAI agreement increases Firmus's customer-contracted capacity to over 900 megawatts (MW).

The company's portfolio currently comprises two operational AI data centers in Australia and Singapore, with five additional facilities under development across the Asia-Pacific region.

This deal underscores the intensifying competition between American and Chinese AI companies to secure electricity and data center capacity for increasingly advanced models. Last week, OpenAI unveiled Astra, which it described as its most capable model yet.

Malaysia has emerged as Southeast Asia's fastest-growing data center market, though the rapid buildout has drawn scrutiny over electricity consumption and water usage.

Firmus plans to deploy Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin processors at scale throughout Asia-Pacific, and the addition of Malaysia will expand its footprint in the region.

Firmus declined to comment on the contract's value, and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.