OpenAI has taken a significant step toward expanding its global infrastructure footprint by striking an agreement with Australian data centre operator NextDC to develop a large-scale artificial intelligence facility in western Sydney. The Brisbane-headquartered firm confirmed it has signed a memorandum of understanding with OpenAI to jointly create an advanced AI campus featuring a high-density supercluster of graphics processing units.
The planned complex represents one of the biggest investments in AI infrastructure in Australia, with the federal government citing a development cost of roughly Aus$7 billion, equivalent to US$4.6 billion. Officials say the facility will generate thousands of jobs during the multi-year build phase as well as long-term roles across engineering, manufacturing, technical operations and data-centre management.
NextDC said the partnership covers collaboration on planning, development, and operational governance, indicating that OpenAI will work closely with the Australian company rather than simply procuring space. The announcement triggered a positive reaction in financial markets, with NextDC shares rising more than four percent in early trading following the disclosure.
The Australian government described the project as strategically aligned with its national capacity to leverage the global AI boom, citing the country’s renewable energy capacity, technical expertise and regulatory policy environment as competitive advantages. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the deal reflects growing global recognition of Australia’s potential to become a key beneficiary of the acceleration in AI investment and deployment.
According to government officials, the site will operate with long-term renewable electricity agreements and integrate advanced cooling systems designed to avoid the use of potable water. The sustainability-focused approach is being positioned as a differentiating factor amid mounting scrutiny over the environmental footprint of high-performance computing.
The new facility is expected to support large-scale AI workloads, including cutting-edge model training and inference operations, at a time when OpenAI and its competitors are racing to expand infrastructure capacity. With demand for compute resources far outpacing global supply, commercial partnerships of this nature have become central to strategic expansion plans across the sector.
Industry analysts view the deal as a marker of how countries outside traditional tech hubs are competing to attract AI capital, talent and infrastructure. For Australia, the partnership could accelerate domestic adoption and signal a shift toward positioning itself as a regional hub for advanced computing.
