Australian Data Giant AirTrunk Targets India's AI Boom

Australian data centre operator AirTrunk is planning to establish a new facility in India to tap into the rapidly growing demand driven by artificial intelligence, CEO Robin Khuda announced.

With India’s 1.5 billion population and expanding digital economy, AirTrunk views the country as a strategic market for its next phase of growth. The company, acquired by Blackstone in 2024 for A$24 billion, is accelerating its Asia expansion amid a surge in AI-led investments in platforms such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Recently, AirTrunk secured A$16 billion in refinancing to fund developments across Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Khuda described the AI revolution as a “global gold rush,” predicting that the data centre sector will require hundreds of billions of dollars to keep pace with demand. However, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman cautioned that the massive energy requirements of AI infrastructure could pose a challenge to future scalability.

News by Rahul Yelligetti.