Nvidia partners with eight firms to double Australia's AI capacity
The chipmaker's 2GW expansion plan would more than double the country's existing 1.6GW computing infrastructure by 2027.
Nvidia announced Thursday it is working with eight Australian data center and cloud infrastructure companies to dramatically expand the country's AI computing capacity, targeting up to 2 gigawatts of new buildout by 2027.
The expansion would more than double Australia's current computing capacity of 1.6 gigawatts, according to analyst firm DC Byte figures cited in the announcement.
The partner network
Nvidia named eight companies participating in the initiative: Firmus, Sharon AI, IREN, Megaport, ResetData, CDC, NEXTDC, and AirTrunk. These partners will deploy what Nvidia terms "AI factories" — integrated systems spanning physical infrastructure, compute hardware, networking, and software, all built on the company's DSX platform.
The partners are at different stages of development. IREN is implementing the DSX architecture at its 800-megawatt Bundey campus in South Australia. CDC reported its existing footprint across Australia and New Zealand exceeds 550 megawatts, with an additional 800 megawatts under development. Sharon AI is deploying up to 68,000 Nvidia GPUs connected through Nvidia Quantum InfiniBand and Spectrum-X Ethernet networking infrastructure.
Megaport is expanding access to Nvidia's accelerated computing through its wholly owned subsidiary, Latitude.sh.
Why it matters
The Australia expansion reflects Nvidia's strategy to secure capacity commitments from infrastructure providers as demand for AI computing outpaces supply globally. By embedding its full technology stack — from chips to networking to software platforms — Nvidia is positioning itself as the default architecture for large-scale AI deployments, making it harder for competitors to displace once infrastructure is built. The move also demonstrates how AI infrastructure requirements are reshaping national computing capacity planning, with Australia's buildout representing a 125% increase in just three years.
Software and applications
Nvidia said the expanded infrastructure and access to its Nemotron open models will enable Australian organizations to develop AI applications for local industries. The company specifically mentioned healthcare startup Heidi and software company Atlassian as organizations that will benefit from the increased capacity.
"AI factories turn energy into intelligence — the essential resource of the AI economy," said Raj Mirpuri, vice president of global AI clouds and infrastructure ecosystem at Nvidia, in a statement.
Prior relationships and financing
Two of the partners announced Thursday, Sharon AI and Firmus, previously participated in Nvidia's AI Compute Partnership, a financing program through which Nvidia provided credit backing to cloud providers in exchange for revenue sharing. Nvidia discontinued that program last week after employees raised antitrust concerns, though the company indicated it may restructure the initiative.
Nvidia's equity investments in AI companies have grown substantially, reaching $99 billion as of late July 2026, up from approximately $7 billion a year earlier, as the chipmaker expands its position across the AI sector.
These details were first reported by Quartz.
This is an original analysis by the Omega editorial team. Source reporting: AI Watch.
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