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Firmus signs multi-year deal to supply OpenAI with AI compute capacity in Malaysia

By: IDCNOVARegion: Southeast Asia
AI infrastructure provider Firmus has entered into a multi-year capacity agreement with OpenAI, under which the AI lab will serve as the anchor customer at two Firmus data center locations in Malaysia. The deal marks a significant expansion of OpenAI's global compute footprint in Southeast Asia, a region increasingly central to the buildout of AI infrastructure.

The agreement brings Firmus' total contracted capacity across all customers to more than 900MW. The company currently operates or develops seven AI data centers across Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Five of those facilities remain under development and are expected to be ready for service within 24 months. These sites will leverage the Nvidia DSX AI Factory Platform to integrate Nvidia Vera Rubin NVL72 systems into Firmus' prefabricated modular "HyperCube" solution. Plans for a Firmus site in Malaysia had not been previously disclosed.

The partnership underscores the growing demand for AI compute capacity beyond traditional hubs, as hyperscale cloud providers and AI labs race to secure power and infrastructure. For Firmus, the deal validates its multi-region strategy spanning Southeast Asia to Australia. "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-CEO of Firmus. "Firmus has spent seven years building for this—a footprint that runs from Southeast Asia to Australia, and the manufacturing, technology, and teams to bring it online at speed."

Sachin Katti, VP of Compute Strategy at OpenAI, added: "We're excited to work with Firmus as we expand our global compute capacity. These new data centers in Malaysia will help us serve growing demand for OpenAI's products across the region and around the world. We look forward to bringing this capacity online together."

Meanwhile, OpenAI's efforts to establish a Stargate project in South Korea have encountered delays. According to Korea JoongAng Daily, little progress has been made since OpenAI signed a Letter of Intent with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in October 2025 to build two AI data centers in the country's southwest region. Unnamed sources said the project has stalled as the companies struggle to secure a site that can accommodate the power and water requirements of the facilities. SK Telecom confirmed that no further progress has been made following the signing of the LOIs. OpenAI declined to comment on the matter, stating only that the domestic project is "still under discussion."

The contrast between the Malaysian agreement and the South Korean delays highlights the uneven pace of AI infrastructure development across Asia-Pacific. While Firmus moves forward with modular, prefabricated designs that can be deployed rapidly, larger greenfield projects face hurdles related to site acquisition, utility capacity, and local permitting. Analysts note that the ability to deliver compute quickly is becoming a competitive differentiator in the AI infrastructure market, as demand from AI labs and cloud providers continues to outpace supply.