Nvidia-backed Firmus signs deal with OpenAI for Malaysia data centre capacity

Sept 8 (Reuters) - Australia's Firmus ‌said on ​Tuesday ​it had signed a multi-year deal with OpenAI to supply computing capacity from two Malaysian ‌data centres, making the ChatGPT maker an anchor customer ⁠as demand surges for infrastructure to run advanced AI models.

Here are ‌the details:

• The deal ‌comes ahead of Firmus' rumoured initial public offering this year, which could be one of Australia's largest in ​recent years.

• The AI infrastructure firm was valued at above $10.5 billion in its last fundraising, backed by Nvidia, ⁠Jane Street, Blackstone funds and Coatue Management.

• The deal with OpenAI raised Firmus' ​contracted capacity across customers to more than 900 megawatts (MW).

• Firmus' portfolio includes two operational AI data ​centres in Australia and Singapore, ‌while five are under development across Asia-Pacific.

• The deal highlights the widening race among U.S. ⁠and Chinese AI groups to secure power and data centre capacity to power increasingly advanced models. OpenAI last week unveiled Astra, ⁠which it said was its most capable model yet.

• Malaysia has ​become Southeast Asia's fastest-growing data centre market, but the rapid buildout has drawn scrutiny over electricity and water use.

• Firmus will deploy ‌Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin processors at scale across Asia-Pacific, with the addition of Malaysia extending ‌its footprint in the region.

• Firmus declined to comment ⁠on the contract value, ‌while OpenAI did not ​immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Nichiket Sunil in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu ‌Sahu)

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