--- title: "NVIDIA partners with Firmus to build an \"AI factory\" in Southeast Asia: 170,000 GPUs and 360MV liquid cooling deployed in Indonesia, aiming to break the computing power monopoly of giants" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/291083260.md" description: "NVIDIA has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Australian Firmus to build an AI factory on Batam Island, Indonesia. The plan includes the delivery of 170,000 GPUs and 360MW of liquid-cooled computing power, utilizing NVIDIA's DSX architecture. The project is expected to generate revenue of $25-30 billion in the first six years, aiming to provide cost-effective computing power for emerging AI companies and break the monopoly of giants" datetime: "2026-06-29T02:41:02.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/291083260.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/291083260.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/291083260.md) --- # NVIDIA partners with Firmus to build an "AI factory" in Southeast Asia: 170,000 GPUs and 360MV liquid cooling deployed in Indonesia, aiming to break the computing power monopoly of giants According to the Zhitong Finance APP, Australian artificial intelligence infrastructure company Firmus Technologies announced on Monday (June 28) that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with NVIDIA (NVDA.US) aimed at providing more cost-effective high-performance computing resources for emerging AI companies. Under the agreement, Firmus will procure NVIDIA's infrastructure and sell cloud services based on NVIDIA technology to clients such as "AI Native"; in return, NVIDIA will receive product revenue and a share of some cloud service revenue. According to the agreement, from the first quarter of 2027 to early 2028, NVIDIA will deliver 170,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) to a facility located on Batam Island, Indonesia. Firmus expects that based on the purchasing commitments from existing clients, this collaboration project is expected to generate revenue of up to $25 billion to $30 billion in the first six years. **Batam Island AI Factory: 360MW Liquid-Cooled Computing Hub** The core vehicle of this collaboration is the NVIDIA DSX liquid-cooled AI factory that Firmus is building in partnership with Singapore data center developer DayOne on Batam Island, Indonesia. The facility has a power capacity of 360MW and will adopt NVIDIA's DSX reference architecture, which is NVIDIA's end-to-end AI factory blueprint released in March 2026, covering full-stack capabilities such as computing, networking, storage, hardware cluster design, infrastructure software, and facility-level integration. According to a strategic cooperation agreement between Firmus and NVIDIA that lasts until 2034, NVIDIA will deliver multiple generations of computing hardware covering Grace Blackwell, Vera Rubin, and Vera to Firmus over the next two years. Firmus co-CEO Tim Rosenfeld stated that the company is optimizing full-stack computing efficiency from the neural network layer to the grid through NVIDIA's DSX blueprint and the "model-to-grid" platform. Founded in 2019, Firmus was co-founded by Rosenfeld and Oliver Curtis. The company previously won the Asia-Pacific Data Center Project of the Year award for its immersion liquid-cooled AI factory in Singapore and subsequently collaborated with local Australian operator CDC Data Centres to deploy DSX standard AI factories in Australia. The Batam Island project is Firmus's first data center project in Indonesia. **Democratizing Computing Power: Breaking Down Cost Barriers of Tech Giants** Firmus executives have made it clear that the core goal of this collaboration is to narrow the significant cost gap in infrastructure between large tech companies and emerging AI companies. "We have been exploring how to bridge the cost advantage gap between large enterprises and emerging companies—large enterprises enjoy these advantages because they have excellent credit ratings," Rosenfeld told Reuters. "This is actually a very substantive way to slightly balance the competitive environment and give emerging companies a chance to compete with large enterprises." Traditionally, the AI computing power market has been dominated by tech giants with strong capital and scale advantages, allowing them to acquire cutting-edge GPU resources at lower unit costs. Firmus's business model attempts to deliver NVIDIA's top computing power to small and medium-sized AI developers in a more flexible manner through scaled infrastructure deployment and revenue-sharing mechanisms Firmus stated that through a revenue-sharing and credit support agreement, the company is able to acquire NVIDIA's infrastructure for its clients. This model is similar to a wholesale retail of "compute power as a service"—Firmus lowers unit costs through economies of scale and then offers competitive pricing for compute power leasing to startups and mid-sized AI companies. **NVIDIA's Strategic Calculation: From Selling Chips to Selling "Factory Blueprints"** For NVIDIA, the significance of this deal goes far beyond simple hardware sales. It marks a deep evolution of NVIDIA's business model—from a GPU component supplier to a definitional standard setter for AI infrastructure stacks. DSX Blueprint Strategy: In March 2026, NVIDIA will release the Vera Rubin DSX reference design, describing it as "a complete manual for building AI factories." DSX is not just a chip specification; it is an end-to-end standard covering computing, networking, storage, hardware clusters, software, and facility integration. NVIDIA is no longer just selling accelerators but is defining the entire factory blueprint and licensing that standard to an increasing number of infrastructure builders. Firmus is an early example of this strategic transformation. Ecological Lock-in Effect: Once facilities are built around the DSX architecture and equipped with chips like the GB300, customers' operational dependence on NVIDIA's technology stack becomes a structural constraint. Customers are purchasing not just GPUs but an entire architecture. The standardization of DSX can also create a flywheel effect: more partners adopting DSX → increased standardized deployments → higher switching costs for non-DSX infrastructure. Diversified Revenue Structure: By participating in Firmus's equity financing and cloud service revenue sharing, NVIDIA is opening up new recurring revenue sources beyond chip sales. As of June 26, NVIDIA's market capitalization is approximately $4.66 trillion. **Capital Layout: $10 Billion Debt Increase, IPO on the Horizon** Firmus's recent financing pace can be described as aggressive, reflecting the strong global demand for AI compute power infrastructure. Equity Financing: In April 2026, Firmus raised $505 million in a financing round led by Coatue Management LLC, achieving a post-money valuation of $5.5 billion. NVIDIA, as a partner of Firmus, also participated in this round of financing. In the previous six months, Firmus had raised a total of $1.35 billion. Debt Financing: Firmus also secured $10 billion in debt financing led by Blackstone for the nationwide promotion of the "Project Southgate" plan. This financing involves funds from Blackstone's Tactical Opportunities, Credit, and Insurance divisions, as well as Coatue, and will support the scaled deployment of Firmus's AI Factory platform based on NVIDIA's DSX reference architecture in the Asia-Pacific region. Notably, the Indonesia Investment Authority (IIA)—a sovereign wealth fund managing approximately $76 billion in assets—also participated in this financing, providing sovereign capital backing for the project IPO Expectations: According to informed sources, Firmus has appointed an investment bank to prepare for a potential initial public offering (IPO). Rosenfeld declined to comment on the IPO preparation status. **Industry Impact: Southeast Asia Rises as a New Frontier for AI Computing Power** This transaction marks Southeast Asia as a new focal point for global AI computing power deployment. Indonesia, with its geographical location, growing digital demand, and active participation of sovereign capital, is attracting significant investments in AI infrastructure. Batam Island, as an industrial hub close to Singapore, has advantages in power supply and logistics, making it an ideal location for the deployment of 170,000 GPUs. Meanwhile, the competitive landscape of the AI infrastructure market is diversifying. On one hand, tech giants are continuously expanding their computing power reserves with capital advantages; on the other hand, operators like Firmus, representing "AI factories," are attempting to create a fairer competitive environment for small and medium-sized AI developers through scaling and standardization. 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