OpenAI Anchors Australian Company’s Malaysian Data Centres
OpenAI has become an anchor customer of Firmus, contracting compute from two Malaysian sites and pushing the Sydney company beyond 900MW of contracted capacity. Two out of its seven AI factories are operational. Investor meetings for an ASX listing begin next week.
September 8, 2026 – 2:53 pm
Credit: Firmus
An Australian company plans to build data centres in Malaysia and fill them with American chips, selling the output to an American company. Its co-chief executive describes this as the moment Asia-Pacific shifts from being a consumer to a producer of intelligence.
Firmus Announces Partnership
Firmus, based in Sydney, announced the partnership on Tuesday. OpenAI will contract dedicated compute from two Firmus sites in Malaysia under a multi-year agreement. This makes Firmus an anchor customer, surpassing 900MW of total contracted capacity.
"This multi-year partnership marks the moment Asia-Pacific becomes a producer of intelligence, not just a consumer of it," said Tim Rosenfield, co-founder and co-chief executive.
Testing the Claim
While Firmus supplies land, grid connection, and power, which is significant, it doesn’t involve the production of intelligence. Instead, it represents a new position in someone else’s supply chain, offering economic gains with a different claim from what’s being advertised.
The genuinely Australian contribution involves HyperCubes, which combine liquid cooling, mechanical systems, and electrification. These are prefabricated in regional New South Wales, representing manufacturing and export of this technology.
Malaysia’s Strategic Position
Just hours before the OpenAI announcement, TNW reported that Malaysia is considering using Huawei chips for a sovereign AI project. The United States has expressed concerns about US export controls. Thus, within a single day, Malaysia found itself courted from both directions—Chinese silicon for state-owned systems and American silicon for an American customer, all on the same soil.
This strategy isn’t contradictory but rather a way to avoid getting entangled in geopolitical tensions. Countries that host both sides sell capacity to both and commit to neither, a rare success in government-led initiatives.
Precedent and Contracted vs. Built
Armenia’s AI factory exists due to Washington signing a license, making the site an instrument of American policy as much as an Armenian asset. Malaysia appears to have avoided this trap by embracing both options.
The 900MW figure should be qualified; Firmus has seven AI factories across four countries: Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Two are operational, while the other five are under development, targeting service over the next 24 months. Therefore, it describes commitments rather than concrete delivery. This is standard in the industry for financing projects but differentiates between contracted and delivered megawatt hours, a common source of data centre project failures.
The Indonesian site provides context: TNW reported in June that Firmus would build a 360MW campus on Batam, going live in Q1 2027. Expected offtake there is estimated at $25bn to $30bn over six years.
The Other Announcement: Firmus’ IPO
Firmus is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), according to The Australian Financial Review, with investor meetings scheduled for the near future.