Categories: Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Data Centres
Singapore’s tech frontier has gained another feather in its cap as Firmus Technologies secures the prestigious Asia Pacific Data Centre Project of the Year award for its groundbreaking AI Factory facility. The accolade underscores Firmus’s role in shaping the next era of energy-efficient, AI-driven computing infrastructure.
The AI Factory is a hallmark of innovation, boasting cutting-edge architecture and sustainability-centred operations to address the growing demands of artificial intelligence while reducing its environmental footprint. This aligns with Firmus’s mission to retrofit ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) into high-performance, GPU-powered AI computing hubs.
Transformative Infrastructure for AI
At the heart of Firmus’s success lies its deployment of advanced hardware and energy-efficient cooling systems. These technological advancements position the AI Factory as a powerhouse for enterprise and research applications, delivering superior energy metrics.
Artificial intelligence’s escalating energy demands have propelled Firmus to the forefront of sustainable tech. Over nearly a decade, its AI Factory platform has combined immersive cooling technology with robust design, build, and operational strategies. The result? A facility boasting remarkable efficiencies:
- Energy savings: 45% more FLOP per utility picoJoule compared to traditional data centres.
- Cost advantages: Up to 30% lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than direct-to-chip cooling systems.
- Scalability: Supports dense AI workloads while minimising environmental impact.
- Global reach: Proven expertise in immersion-cooled centres across Singapore and Australia.
Pioneering Sustainability
The AI Factory’s deployment demonstrates how innovative designs can balance AI’s power needs with sustainability. By achieving an impressively low partial Power Usage Effectiveness (pPUE) of 1.02 and reducing energy consumption by 45%, Firmus sets a benchmark for eco-conscious AI growth. These achievements dovetail with Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0, which champions sustainable advancements in data centre technologies.
Firmus Technologies’ co-CEO, Tim Rosenfield, shared his vision for the project, emphasising its global potential: “We’ve reimagined data centre design to foster AI growth while championing environmental sustainability. Achieving this in Singapore’s dense, humid environment proves its scalability worldwide.”
Leadership Driving Innovation
A recent leadership revamp has further solidified Firmus’s position as a leader in sustainable AI infrastructure. Dr. Daniel Kearney, previously AWS’s Head of Technology for ASEAN Enterprise, has joined as Chief Technology Officer, steering the company’s engineering prowess. “This recognition validates our role in addressing AI’s energy challenges with innovative solutions,” said Kearney.
Pushing the Boundaries with Sustainable Metal Cloud
Firmus’s commitment to sustainability extends through its Sustainable Metal Cloud (SMC) initiative, which focuses on advancing AI infrastructure efficiency. Recent milestones include:
- Benchmarking breakthroughs: Publishing detailed power and performance data for the MLPerf Training benchmark.
- Policy impact: Contributions from Rosenfield have shaped the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s AI energy policy agenda.
- Industry engagement: At ATxSG24, Chairman Edward Pretty joined a distinguished panel with NVIDIA, the World Bank, and Alibaba Cloud to discuss balancing AI’s computational and sustainability needs.
- Global rollouts: The firm’s team of 700 is spearheading the installation of HyperCubes—its next-generation Sustainable AI Factories—across multiple regions.
- NVIDIA GTC participation: Firmus featured in two panels, collaborating with NVIDIA, Deloitte, and WEKA to explore sustainable AI infrastructure.
Charting a Sustainable AI Future
The achievements of Firmus Technologies mark a turning point in AI data centre design, offering a sustainable blueprint for addressing the industry’s growing energy demands. As the world edges closer to an AI-driven future, Firmus’s innovative approaches promise to pave the way for a more balanced and eco-conscious digital age.
