Firmus Technologies, a Singapore-based company, has earned the prestigious Asia Pacific Data Centre Project of the Year award for its revolutionary AI Factory initiative. This accolade reflects the company’s efforts to create a sustainable and energy-efficient solution for the growing computational demands of artificial intelligence.
Redefining AI Infrastructure with the AI Factory
The AI Factory facility is a key component of Firmus’s strategy to transform existing data centers into cutting-edge GPU-powered AI computing platforms. This innovative redesign includes high-performance hardware and advanced cooling systems, ensuring both enterprise and research clients benefit from improved energy efficiency metrics.
Firmus has been addressing the energy challenges of AI for nearly a decade. The company’s AI Factory platform integrates immersion cooling technology with robust design and operational frameworks. According to Firmus, their platform offers several advantages, including:
- Energy efficiency: Achieving 45% more FLOP per utility picoJoule compared to traditional data centers.
- Cost-effectiveness: Reducing total ownership costs by up to 30% compared to direct-to-chip cooling systems.
- Scalability and sustainability: Supporting high-density AI workloads while minimizing environmental impact.
- Global expertise: Proven success in building and operating immersion-cooled data centers in Singapore and Australia.
Energy Efficiency as a Cornerstone of AI Growth
The AI Factory’s deployment in Singapore showcases how innovative infrastructure solutions can meet the energy demands of AI sustainably. By achieving a pPUE (partial Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.02 and cutting energy consumption by 45%, the project aligns with Singapore’s National AI Strategy 2.0, which emphasizes sustainable AI growth.
Tim Rosenfield, co-CEO of Firmus Technologies, shared the vision behind their approach: “By rethinking data center design, we’ve created a platform that not only supports AI growth but also promotes environmental sustainability. If we can achieve this in Singapore’s challenging environment, we can replicate it globally.”
Leadership and Industry Collaboration
Dr. Daniel Kearney, Firmus’s newly appointed Chief Technology Officer and former AWS Head of Technology for ASEAN Enterprise, is leading the company’s engineering efforts. He highlighted the growing importance of sustainable AI infrastructure amid the rapid expansion of AI technologies.
Firmus has also been active in pushing boundaries through initiatives like the Sustainable Metal Cloud (SMC), which focuses on improving AI infrastructure efficiency. Recent accomplishments include:
- Publishing power efficiency benchmarks for the MLPerf Training benchmark.
- Contributing to policy discussions on AI energy demands, including insights from Tim Rosenfield for the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
- Participating in industry panels at ATxSG24 and NVIDIA GTC 2024 to address sustainability challenges in AI.
- Launching the first fleet of sustainable AI Factories, termed “Hypercubes,” in multiple regions.
For a deeper perspective on how companies like NVIDIA are driving innovation in AI infrastructure, check out NVIDIA Redefines AI Innovation with Game-Changing CES 2025 Announcements.
Shaping the Future of AI Data Centers
The success of Firmus Technologies underscores the importance of balancing AI advancement with sustainability. By setting new benchmarks for energy-efficient data centers, the company is paving the way for a greener AI-powered future.
