Singtel partners with Nvidia to advance AI data centre push in ASEAN

Singtel announced that it will work with Nvidia to deliver artificial intelligence capabilities in its data centres across Southeast Asia as the Singaporean telecommunications giant scales its regional data centre business.

Singtel will offer access to Nvidiaโ€™s graphics processing units (GPUs) through its regional data centres. The first AI services will spin up in Singapore, with future data centres under construction in Indonesia and Thailand to follow.

In a statement, Nvidia said the datacentres will be sovereign โ€œAI factoriesโ€ that will process private datasets of companies, startups, universities and governments. Customers will be able to leverage Singtelโ€™s fixed broadband network, submarine cables and 5G network connectivity to operate their AI workloads in a multi-network and multi-cloud environment.

The partnership between the pair signals Singtelโ€™s further support for Singaporeโ€™s National AI Strategy 2.0, which calls to use AI to drive innovation.

Singtel launches Nxera

The announcement was part of Singtelโ€™s launch of its new regional data centre brand called Nxera.

โ€œThe launch of the Nxera data centre brand is a key milestone for our data centre business as we look to expand our footprint in the region beyond 200MW over the next three years,โ€ according to Bill Chang, CEO of Nxera and Singtelโ€™s Digital InfraCo unit.

The telecom has also partnered with companies including Thailandโ€™s Gulf Energy Development, Indonesiaโ€™s Medco Power, and Malaysiaโ€™s TNB Renewables to tap into their renewable energy, as it targets to reach operational net-zero emissions by 2028.

In a further bid to go green, the company will work with Singaporeโ€™s Deston and SGP Global, as well as Quanta Cloud Technology, Shell, Stulz and Supermicro to establish a co-innovation platform to develop and test liquid and immersion cooling and water-saving technologies.

โ€œDigitalisation shouldnโ€™t come at the expense of our decarbonisation efforts,โ€ Chang said.

Singtel added it will create a regional sustainable data centre academy with the Singapore Institute of Technology, Nanyang Polytechnic, and Singapore Polytechnic. To be launched in mid-2024, the academy is expected to train more than 150 students annually.


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Aimee Chanthadavong
Aimee Chanthadavong

Aimee Chanthadavong has been a journalist, editor and content producer for more than a decade. During that time she's covered enterprise technology for premium websites such as ZDNet and InnovationAus as well as food and travel for Broadsheet and SBS.