Published on the 10/12/2025 | Written by Heather Wright

$7b data centre to power AI future…

OpenAI has launched its ‘OpenAI for Australia’ initiative, anchored by a $7 billion data centre partnership with NextDC, and a national skills development program.

The initiative includes building an AI campus and GPU supercluster in Sydney, in partnership with NextDC.  The datacentre, at NextDC’s S7 site in Sydney, will be the largest in the southern hemisphere at 650 megawatts. and will deliver hyperscale compute capacity for advanced workloads including generative AI and large-scale model training.

“This is a terrific outcome for our economy and our thriving tech sector.”

OpenAI says it will provide Australia with the sovereign compute capacity needed to support sensitive and mission-critical workloads across government, enterprise, research and national infrastructure.

NextDC says subject to securing the necessary approvals, the first phase of the S7 project is expected to be delivered in the second half of calendar 2027. The hyperscale campus will be ‘one of the most advanced sovereign AI campuses in the Asia Pacific region’, NextDC says.

The facility is engineered as a sovereign AI facility, with security, resilience and operational standards aligned to Australia’s SOCI framework.

The facility will utilise closed-loop, high-density liquid cooling with no potable drinking water used.

OpenAI says it intends to be an initial offtaker with the option to scale over time.

OpenAI also opened new offices in Sydney to support the initiative.

Training and startups included

Also included in the deal is a skills initiative with OpenAI working alongside Commonwealth Bank, Coles and Wesfarmers to roll out AI skills training, via bespoke training programs, to more than 1.2 million Australian workers and small businesses.

Commonwealth Bank says it will co-develop AI learning resources and deliver masterclasses on AI fundamental, automation, responsible use and essential cyber skills.  “our goal is to make digital tools accessible and trusted, so every café owner, retailer and sole trader can work smarter and stay secure,” it says in a LinkedIn post.

Commonwealth Bank will be doing the heavy lifting when it comes to the 1.2 million figure, with the bank making its training modules available for one million small business customers across Australia.

Coles and Wesfarmers, meanwhile, will roll out tailored training programs to their entire workforces.

A nationwide rollout of OpenAI Academy courses, created by OpenAI with Commonwealth Bank, Coles and Wesfarmers, will begin next year in what OpenAI says is one of the largest coordinated AI-skills initiatives in Australia’s history.

A new startup program to ‘accelerate Australia’s potential for home-grown innovation’ is also included. Delivered in partnership with venture capital firms including Blackbird, Square Peg and AirTree, the program and will provide support for local startups and innovators. Participating startups will get up to US$15,000 in API credits, technical mentorship from OpenAI engineers and global experts and access to workshops on scaling, compliance and safety. Participating in technical workshops will also see startups receiving additional credits.

APAC first

OpenAI for Australia will be the first OpenAI for Countries program in Asia Pacific. Similar initiatives have launched in other regions, including Argentina and Greece, and the UK, UAE and Norway, where it is called Stargate UK/UAE/Norway respectively.

It comes amid Australia’s push to be a developer, as well as adopter, of AI solutions. Earlier this month the government launched its National AI Plan, which includes an objective of attracting global partnerships and investment.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the announcement is ‘a terrific outcome for our economy and our thriving tech sector’, with the project expected to deliver ‘thousands’ of direct and indirect jobs over the course of its construction as ongoing technical, manufacturing, engineering and operational roles.

“Partnerships like these will help create good jobs, boost skills and spread AI adoption across our economy,” he says.

Assistant minister for science, technology and the digital economy Andrew Charlton adds: “As we set out in our National AI Plan, investments like this are how we secure Australia’s place in a rapidly changing world.”

OpenAI, which brought generative AI to public consciousness, is facing increasing competition. Google’s Gemini, hit 650 million monthly active users in October, closing in on ChatGPT’s 810 million monthly active users. Gemini is now outpacing ChatGPT in monthly active user growth – at 30 percent versus six percent for August-November according to Sensor Tower figures – and in time spent in app and Google released Gemini 3 last month, to acclaim from many.

Anthropic’s Claude is also gaining traction, particularly in the enterprise.

That competition reportedly saw OpenAI CEO Sam Altman issue an internal ‘code red’, dropping  development work on other products in favour of focusing on improving the quality of ChatGPT.