Firmus and Nvidia partner to build 360MW AI data center in Indonesia with $30B in expected deals

Firmus and Nvidia Announce Major AI Infrastructure Partnership in Indonesia

Firmus Technologies, an Australian AI infrastructure company valued at $5.5 billion, has signed an eight-year partnership with Nvidia to build a dedicated 360MW AI data centre in Batam, Indonesia 1

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. The Nvidia DSX AI Factory campus, developed in collaboration with Singapore-based DayOne, is scheduled to go live in Q1 2027 and represents one of the largest AI infrastructure developments in the Asia-Pacific region 2

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The project positions Batam Indonesia as a strategic regional AI compute hub, leveraging its proximity to Singapore's established financial and technology ecosystem. Firmus projects the partnership will generate between $25 billion to $30 billion in committed offtake agreements during the first six years of operation 1

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. This aggressive forecast reflects the intense demand for AI compute capacity across Southeast Asia, where companies are pouring billions into digital infrastructure to support rapid developments in artificial intelligence.

Massive GPU Infrastructure Deployment Through Revenue-Sharing Model

Under the partnership terms, Firmus will access up to 170,000 Nvidia AI accelerator chips through 2027 and 2028 via a revenue-sharing and credit-support agreement 1

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. This arrangement allows Firmus to deploy GPU infrastructure without requiring massive upfront capital purchases, instead sharing cloud revenue with Nvidia on the supported capacity 2

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The deal adds to Nvidia's expanding DSX programme, which partners with data center operators globally to deploy AI computing resources through revenue-sharing agreements rather than traditional sales models. Firmus will sell Nvidia-powered cloud services to AI-native customers, with the chip giant earning both standard product revenue and a share of the cloud revenue generated . This approach helps AI-native firms access critical Nvidia infrastructure while managing capital constraints.

Strategic Shift Toward Multi-Tenant Customers in Asia-Pacific

The Batam project marks a strategic departure from Firmus's existing Australian operations. While the company's Australian projects focus on hyperscaler clients, the 360MW AI data centre will operate as a multi-tenant facility targeting AI-native customers 1

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. This diversification strategy reflects the evolving landscape of AI infrastructure demand, where smaller AI-focused companies increasingly need access to large-scale computing resources.

Co-CEO Tim Rosenfield emphasized that market volatility around AI stocks remains "largely irrelevant" to the company's business model. "We're building our business based on demand that we're seeing from customers and contracts that we're closing," he told Bloomberg 1

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. This customer-driven approach suggests Firmus is betting on sustained, contractual demand rather than speculative market trends.

Firmus's Rapid Evolution and Regional Expansion Plans

Firmus began as a Bitcoin mining operation in Tasmania in 2019 before pivoting to AI infrastructure 1

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. The company raised $505 million in April at a $5.5 billion valuation in a funding round led by Coatue Management and backed by Nvidia 1

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Beyond the Indonesia project, Firmus maintains an ambitious pipeline of data centre developments across Australia and Singapore, including a deal with CDC Data Centers to develop up to 1.6 gigawatts across Australia by 2028 1

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. While Rosenfield declined to comment on IPO plans, the company is widely expected to list this year 1

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Southeast Asia Emerges as Critical AI Infrastructure Battleground

Investment in Asia-Pacific AI infrastructure has accelerated sharply as companies compete to secure computing capacity in a region experiencing explosive digital growth. Blackstone-backed AirTrunk recently committed $30 billion to India alone, while DayOne raised $4.5 billion in gross proceeds in a Series C equity financing in early June to accelerate expansion across Asian and European markets 1

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The intensity of demand for AI compute across the region has reached such levels that even Google has resorted to renting GPUs from SpaceX 1

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. For Indonesia, the Batam campus represents a significant step toward establishing the country as a player in the global AI infrastructure landscape, potentially attracting additional investment and positioning the archipelago nation as a viable alternative to more established hubs like Singapore for companies seeking AI computing resources at scale.