‘These guys are just coming from nothing’: questions over multibillion-dollar Firmus float amid datacentre backlash
Source: The Guardian ·
‘AI factories’ developer on track to launch the second-biggest IPO in Australian history, but investors warn its forecasts are ‘a little bit of a fairytale’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFrom her balcony in Launceston, Kayla Thompson can see the buzz of construction at what will soon be one of Australia’s first AI factories. Her teenage stepchildren get an even…
From the source
From her balcony in Launceston, Kayla Thompson can see the buzz of construction at what will soon be one of Australia’s first AI factories. Her teenage stepchildren get an even clearer view from their classroom window. Like many of her neighbours, Thompson didn’t realise Firmus Technologies had an ambitious plan to build datacentres in Tasmania until after construction began. The Australian company was on a mission, and preparing to list on the ASX later this month after an anticipated initial public offering designed to raise $7bn from investors. It is on track to be the second-largest IPO on record behind Telstra’s $14bn share sale in 1997, and one of the top five in the world this year. Its massive 104-megawatt datacentre at St Leonards, worth an estimated $2.1bn, was given fast-tracked approval by the city of Launceston in September last year without a public hearing. Thompson was furious. She joined a protest group that believes Tasmanians were kept in the dark by the company.…