Australia's Firmus Technologies strikes AI access deal with Nvidia

SYDNEY: Australian AI infrastructure company Firmus Technologies said on Monday it had signed a strategic partnership with Nvidia Corp to help ​provide emerging AI firms with more cost-effective access to ‌computing power.

Firmus said the deal would see it buy Nvidia infrastructure and sell Nvidia‑powered cloud services to “AI Native” customers, among others, in an agreement that would earn the ​US-listed chip giant product revenue and a share of cloud ​revenue.

The deal will deliver 170,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPU) from ⁠the first quarter of 2027 to the start of 2028, that ​will be located in Batam, Indonesia.

Firmus said it expected to earn ​up to $30 billion in revenue during the first six years of the deal, based on customer commitments.

The Australian-founded company said the deal would make it easier for ​smaller and developing AI firms to access the technology’s infrastructure.

“We ​have worked to figure out how to close the gap between the cost benefits ‌that ⁠the large guys have access to, which they do because they have great credit ratings, and the guys that are up and comers,” Firmus co-chief executive Tim Rosenfield told Reuters. “This is actually a really ​material way to ​level the ⁠playing field a little bit to give the next a chance to compete with the big guys.”

Nvidia ​has participated in Firmus’ previous capital raisings making it ​an ⁠investor in the Australian firm, according to Firmus.

Firmus said in April it had raised $1.35 billion over the previous six months, giving it a $5.5 billion post-money valuation. ⁠It ​has appointed investment banks to work on ​a potential initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rosenfield declined to ​comment on Firmus’ IPO preparations.