{"id":920593,"date":"2026-10-08T11:58:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/920593\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:58:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:58:12","slug":"firmus-troubles-raise-questions-over-tasmanian-ai-factories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/920593\/","title":{"rendered":"Firmus troubles raise questions over Tasmanian AI factories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Questions are being raised about AI data centre developer Firmus\u2019 plans for Tasmania, after a week in which its float has faltered and a $73.3 billion partnership has ended.<\/p>\n

Firmus is yet to confirm a final price for its sharemarket float after bids closed today amid weaker-than-expected demand.<\/p>\n

Its prospectus offered shares at $11, valuing the company at around $44 billion.<\/p>\n

The company this week revealed the end of its partnership with data centre operator CDC.<\/p>\n

\"\"Firmus has sought more than 30% of Tasmania\u2019s current energy supply. Image \/ File<\/p>\n

It also pulled out of giving evidence to a federal parliamentary inquiry into artificial intelligence today, notifying the committee yesterday.<\/p>\n

Firmus is building a $2 billion AI factory at St Leonards, near Launceston, which is due to start operating in early 2027.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bayley said the Rockliff government had \u201crolled out the red carpet\u201d for Firmus. Image \/ File<\/p>\n

Its 288-megawatt Bell Bay AI factory, on the former Gunns pulp mill site, was approved by the George Town Council in August. A development application has been lodged for a third site at Wesley Vale.<\/p>\n

Firmus signed a three-year deal with government-owned retailer Aurora Energy in March for up to 104 megawatts to power its St Leonards site.<\/p>\n

The government says the deal was set at market rates and was not subsidised.<\/p>\n

When fully developed, the three sites are expected to need about 444 megawatts, which would make Firmus Tasmania\u2019s largest electricity user.<\/p>\n

\"\"Greens MP Vica Bayley said Tasmanians\u2019 mistrust of Firmus was \u201cvery well placed\u201d<\/p>\n

Greens MP Vica Bayley said Tasmanians\u2019 mistrust of the company was \u201cvery well placed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a company that clearly lacks a social licence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Bayley said the Rockliff government had \u201crolled out the red carpet\u201d for Firmus despite having no guardrails in place to assess or regulate it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt begs the questions, you know, what are the commitments Firmus has extracted from the government for it to be partnered up so closely,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Firmus pulled out of a Thursday appearance before a federal parliamentary inquiry into AI. Image \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Bayley said the company\u2019s demand for more than 30% of Tasmania\u2019s current energy supply had raised concerns.<\/p>\n

He said experts were raising questions about Marinus and data centres: \u201cYou can\u2019t have both because you\u2019re talking about the same energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether the float troubles could derail the proposed data centres, government minister Bridget Archer said the company\u2019s affairs were \u201ca matter for Firmus\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn relation to the government more generally, we of course are open to talking to anybody, any private investment that wants to do business in Tasmania,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Government minister Bridget Archer said the float troubles were \u201ca matter for Firmus\u201d. Image \/ Pulse (File)<\/p>\n

Archer said people would be surprised if the government was not interested in talking with private operators wanting to invest in the state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Questions are being raised about AI data centre developer Firmus\u2019 plans for Tasmania, after a week in which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":920594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":["post-920593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=920593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/920593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/920594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=920593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=920593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=920593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}