Back to Articles
CDC signs 555-megawatt data centre deal with US hyperscaler, thought to be AWS, underscoring staggering boom in Australia’s AI sector

The Australian Financial Review

ENRICHED

Details

Date Published
6 May 2026
Priority Score
3
Australian
Yes
Created
6 May 2026, 08:00 am

Authors (1)

Description

The signing of the biggest ever data centre deal underscores the staggering boom in Australia’s artificial intelligence sector. CDC’s Greg Boorer says it’s a 20-year story.

Summary

Australia is witnessing a massive expansion in physical AI infrastructure, exemplified by CDC's record-breaking 555-megawatt data centre deal with a major US hyperscaler. This scale of investment indicates a significant leap in regional compute capacity, which is a prerequisite for training and deploying more advanced frontier AI models. The rapid growth in localized high-density compute infrastructure presents new challenges for Australian governance regarding the oversight of powerful AI systems and the mitigation of associated systemic risks. Such infrastructure developments are foundational to the Australian government's broader AI safety and regulatory roadmap.

Body

TechnologyChanticleerPrint articleMay 6, 2026 – 3.22pmGreg Boorer has just signed the biggest data centre contract in Australian history, but he insists he’s not going to celebrate.On Monday, the long-time chief executive of Canberra-based data centre giant CDC signed a 555-megawatt contract with an unnamed US hyperscaler, after six months of what Boorer describes as day-and-night negotiations.Loading...SaveLog in or Subscribe to save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? LoginLicense articleFollow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.Find out moreRead MoreChanticleerData centresAIInfrastructureOpinionFetching latest articles