OpenAI launches national Australia program with NEXTDC as government back sovereign AI infrastructure

NEXTDC’s CEO took to LinkedIn to outline a new OpenAI for Australia partnership covering AI infrastructure, workforce training, and startup support across the country.

NEXTDC CEO and Managing Director Craig Scroggie took to LinkedIn to announce the formal launch of OpenAI for Australia, described as the first country-level OpenAI program in the Asia Pacific region.

NEXTDC, an Australian data center and digital infrastructure provider, has signed an agreement with OpenAI to collaborate on a hyperscale AI facility at the company’s S7 site in Eastern Creek, Sydney. According to Scroggie, the move represents a step toward expanding Australia’s sovereign compute capability at a time when demand for high-performance AI infrastructure is accelerating across sectors.

OpenAI’s accompanying blog states that the initiative is intended to help Australia capture the economic and workforce benefits of AI while supporting national security, industry innovation, and long-term productivity. The launch brings together federal and state government partners, major employers, and parts of the country’s startup ecosystem.

Scroggie writes, “Today marks a major step forward in Australias sovereign AI capability,” and describes the announcement as the beginning of a multi-year effort involving government, industry, and technology partners.

Next-generation AI campus planned for Sydney

Under the agreement, NEXTDC and OpenAI will work together on planning and developing a next-generation hyperscale AI campus, with OpenAI expected to be the initial offtaker as part of the OpenAI for Countries model. The facility will include a large-scale GPU supercluster designed to support sensitive and mission-critical workloads across government, enterprise, research, and national infrastructure. The blog emphasizes that this approach aims to enable Australia to host and control its own AI compute rather than relying exclusively on international cloud environments.

NEXTDC’s S7 campus remains subject to planning and regulatory approvals. The company says the development will be engineered around closed-loop liquid cooling, zero drinking water use, and renewable energy integration. Scroggie frames the project as digital infrastructure on the scale of national utilities, with multi-year construction and long-term technical roles expected across engineering, manufacturing, and operations.

The emphasis on sovereign capability aligns with the Australian Government’s National AI Plan, which identifies compute scarcity, cyber resilience, and domestic talent development as major constraints. Scroggie points to this directly, writing, “The National AI Plan is clear. Australias next wave of growth is constrained by compute. Sovereign capability is now a strategic asset.”

Large-scale workforce program aims to train more than one million Australians

OpenAI for Australia also includes a national workforce component delivered through OpenAI Academy, the company’s AI-literacy training platform. According to the blog, OpenAI will work with three of Australia's largest employers — Commonwealth Bank, Coles, and Wesfarmers — to design training programs tailored to real-world Australian contexts.

Through this arrangement, Commonwealth Bank will distribute AI learning modules to approximately one million small businesses, while Coles and Wesfarmers plan to offer AI skills training to their entire workforces. OpenAI’s role includes co-designing learning materials with sector specialists and building models aligned to the needs of Australian industries.

OpenAI describes the skills initiative as one of the largest coordinated AI-training efforts attempted in the country. The scale of the rollout underscores the widening gap between AI adoption and workforce readiness, with the program framed as a response to longstanding concerns about digital confidence, productivity, and access to training for small businesses.

CommBank CEO Matt Comyn says, “Small businesses are the backbone of Australia’s economy and the engine of our communities, but too many small business owners tell us they simply don’t have the time or confidence to explore how AI could help them.”

Startup program designed to strengthen Australia’s AI ecosystem

OpenAI’s announcement also includes a commitment to support Australia’s startup ecosystem, building on the country’s record of producing globally recognized technology companies. The initiative will be delivered with venture capital firms including Blackbird, Square Peg, and AirTree. Selected startups will gain access to API credits, technical mentorship from OpenAI engineers, and workshops covering scaling, compliance, and safety. Additional credits are available for participants that take part in technical deep-dive sessions.

A new annual Founder Day will also be established in Australia, providing early-stage companies with dedicated time to explore use cases with OpenAI specialists. The blog positions this as a way to reduce barriers for founders seeking to build AI-enabled products in a highly competitive global environment.

Australia’s interest in sovereign AI capability has increased alongside global competition for compute, talent, and AI-ready infrastructure. The OpenAI for Australia launch formalizes a partnership model that positions the country as an early adopter of OpenAI’s international strategy while responding to pressure from industry and government to expand domestic AI capacity.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says, “Australia is well placed to be a global leader in AI, with deep technical talent, strong institutions and a clear ambition to use new technology to lift productivity. Through OpenAI for Australia, we are focused on accelerating the infrastructure, workforce skills and local ecosystem needed to turn that opportunity into long-term economic growth.”

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