Summary: OpenAI will become an anchor customer of Firmus and reserve compute capacity at two planned AI data centres in Malaysia. Firmus says the agreement lifts its contracted capacity above 900 MW. The more interesting context comes from two earlier signals: NVIDIA Vera Rubin deployments and dedicated trans-Pacific network capacity already secured by Firmus.
Firmus and OpenAI announced the multi-year partnership on September 8. The two Malaysian facilities are part of a network of seven AI factories across Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. Two sites are operational today, while Firmus says five more are targeted to become ready for service within the next 24 months.
Compute alone is not enough
Firmus plans to deploy NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 systems in the region using NVIDIA's DSX platform and its own modular HyperCube infrastructure. Claims that this design will automatically improve deployment speed and token economics come from the supplier and are not yet independent efficiency measurements.
The connectivity layer is more concrete. On September 3, Firmus agreed with SUBCO to secure up to 150 Tbps of dedicated capacity on the planned APX East submarine cable between Australia and the United States. Firmus intends to invest about $300 million over 25 years, with the system targeted for service in late 2028.
Pandorex Analysis
The pattern is stronger than a standalone data-centre deal: Firmus is securing power and facilities, next-generation accelerators and international network capacity at the same time. OpenAI now becomes the most visible large customer of that stack. This suggests that Asia-Pacific AI infrastructure is increasingly being designed as one system spanning energy, cooling, accelerators and long-haul connectivity.
The scale still needs careful separation. OpenAI and NVIDIA announced at least 10 GW of NVIDIA-based infrastructure in 2025, with the first phase expected to use Vera Rubin from the second half of 2026. It is currently not confirmed that the two Firmus sites in Malaysia formally belong to that 10 GW programme. The value of the new contract has also not been disclosed.
For OpenAI, the deal is nevertheless strategically relevant because it adds geographically distributed compute in a fast-growing Southeast Asian data-centre market. For Firmus, an anchor customer such as OpenAI makes the planned expansion commercially more credible before all five new facilities are operational.