Australia’s Firmus announced on 29 September that it had signed agreements with Meta for GPU computing capacity at Southeast Asian data centres, extending an existing deployment at Firmus’ Melbourne site, Reuters reported. Firmus is preparing a $5 billion initial public offering to finance its expansion into AI infrastructure.
Key points
- Firmus will provide contracted GPU capacity and options for Meta to expand it.
- The Southeast Asian arrangement uses Nvidia’s DSX platform and follows Meta’s deployment at Firmus’ Melbourne site.
- Firmus is preparing for a $5 billion IPO to fund growth in AI projects.
Meta contracts capacity with expansion options
Firmus will supply contracted capacity and give Meta options to expand it under the agreements. The computing infrastructure is intended for Meta’s AI research, model development and training. The arrangement is built on Nvidia’s full-stack DSX platform. The expansion options sit alongside the capacity already contracted, rather than committing Meta to every potential addition at the outset.
Firmus designs, manufactures and operates facilities it calls AI factories for large-scale computing workloads. It has announced sites in Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as across Australia. Capital Brief reported that the 29 September announcement did not identify which Southeast Asian sites Meta would use. Those previously announced locations therefore do not identify the facilities covered by Meta’s agreements.
Meta’s vice president for engineering and infrastructure, Gaya Nagarajan, described Firmus as “a long-term strategic infrastructure partner” in comments reported by Capital Brief. Nagarajan linked the relationship to Meta’s work on AI research and model development across Asia-Pacific. The agreements extend a customer relationship already centred on a substantial deployment in Australia, while the additional contracted capacity is intended for Southeast Asia.
Firmus builds on its Melbourne deployment
Meta is the anchor customer at Firmus’ Melbourne AI factory. Its deployment there uses Nvidia GB300 NVL72 systems. Reuters described the Melbourne installation as the largest deployment of Blackwell Ultra systems in the Southern Hemisphere. The Southeast Asian agreements add a separate regional capacity arrangement to that existing customer deployment.
Firmus co-founder and co-CEO Tim Rosenfield described the engineering demands of supplying compute for AI models in comments reported by Capital Brief. He said the company was building for customers seeking more computing capacity from each watt of energy. He also said Firmus’ Asia-Pacific build-out was intended to support the scale of Meta’s AI research and model development work.
The agreements make Meta both an existing anchor customer in Melbourne and a contracted customer for Firmus’ Southeast Asian facilities. Firmus’ announced locations span multiple countries, while Meta’s contracted capacity and any capacity taken under the expansion options belong to the new arrangement. The Melbourne deployment remains the established installation named in the reporting on the deal.
Firmus prepares a $5 billion IPO
Firmus is preparing a $5 billion initial public offering to finance its expansion into AI infrastructure, Reuters reported. The publication described the proposed flotation as one that could become Australia’s second-largest IPO. The Southeast Asian contracts add Meta to the customer plans for the facilities Firmus has announced beyond its Melbourne deployment.
AI Affairs previously reported that Firmus expects a $77 million half-year loss ahead of the $5 billion IPO. The expected loss and proposed fundraising form the financial backdrop to Firmus’ expansion, while the Meta agreements cover computing capacity and options for further capacity.
The financial terms of the Meta agreements were not disclosed.
