Nvidia Signs Eight Australian Data Centre Partners for Up to 2GW of AI Capacity by 2027
September 10, 2026 – 8:37 am
Credit: Samuel Boivin via Shutterstock
Nvidia (find out more) has signed agreements with eight Australian data centre and cloud companies to establish what it terms AI factory capacity, aiming to support up to two gigawatts of AI compute power in Australia by 2027.
The partners involved in the initiative are:
- Firmus
- Sharon AI
- IREN
- Megaport
- ResetData
- CDC
- NextDC
- AirTrunk
IREN’s Bundey campus in South Australia, for instance, is an 800MW site. CDC claims to operate over 550MW across Australia and New Zealand, with an additional 800MW under construction.
An AI factory, as defined by Nvidia, encompasses a full-stack arrangement encompassing facilities, compute, networking, software, and reference designs built around its DSX platform and CUDA ecosystem.
This definition facilitates commercial collaboration. It transforms a group of independent Australian landlords into deployments of a single company’s architecture, aligning with Nvidia’s strategic goals.
Two gigawatts is a significant figure, roughly equivalent to the output of two large nuclear reactors. This raises questions about power supply, which is typically left unaddressed in such announcements.
The Australian expansion has been in progress for some time, with TNW previously reporting on its financing. AirTrunk plays a central role in the influx of American capital into Australian data centres, while NextDC has been issuing convertible notes to fund similar projects.
What sets this announcement apart is Nvidia’s consolidation of the ecosystem under a single program with a gigawatt target. This initiative, dubbed "sovereign AI," aims to strengthen data residency rules, locally trained models, and industries’ preferences to keep data within Australia.
However, it’s essential to note that "sovereignty" in this context refers to the racks being physically located in Australia while the accelerators, interconnects, software stack, and reference architecture remain American.
This approach differs from the EU’s AI gigafactory competition, which relies on state aid, consortium bids, and site selection. Nvidia’s method is potentially faster.
The EU’s focus on ownership and power supply considerations before construction, particularly regarding clean energy supply, adds another layer to the discussion.