Australian Firmus Signs Deal With OpenAI To Supply It With Two Datacentres In Malaysia

Australian AI firm Firmus has entered into a multi-year agreement with OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to supply its computing power from two upcoming datacenters in Malaysia. The deal comes amid a decline in NVIDIA's stock value, with the company's stock falling by about 1.5% on a recent trading day.

Firmus currently leases its datacenters in Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia. However, the company is also constructing its own datacenters in Tasmania, Australia. Unfortunately, Firmus has not disclosed further details regarding its planned Malaysian site, including its projected operational timeline and power consumption.

The contract between Firmus and OpenAI stipulates a total contracted capacity of up to 900MW across all sites in the Asia Pacific region, a significant increase from the 155MW in April. This capacity will be powered by NVIDIA's AI infrastructure, with Firmus' most powerful offering utilizing NVIDIA's Blackwell architecture.

Firmus has reportedly expressed plans to purchase and deploy Vera Rubin processors on a large scale across the Asia Pacific, as soon as they become available. The projected 900MW refers to the power capacity, not NVIDIA's revenue. The true value for NVIDIA will depend on the volume of processors deployed, the timing of deployment, and the economics of the partnership with Firmus.

The location of Firmus' planned datacenters is likely to be in the state of Johor, due to its size, land mass, and proximity to Singapore. The Malaysian government's incentives, at both federal and state levels, as well as the participation of other tech giants like Microsoft, Oracle, and NVIDIA, have played a significant role in Firmus' decision to choose Malaysia as a potential hub for its Asia Pacific operations.