Australian AI infrastructure company Sharon AI has formed a partnership with Cisco to launch Cisco’s first “secure AI factory” in Australia alongside NVIDIA.
This comes on top of the company raising US$125 million from its initial public offering on Nasdaq. A secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchanges (ASX) is expected later in the year.
Sharon AI is a high-performance computing company focused on artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure. By renting this computing capacity to firms, Sharon AI provides access to the power needed for demanding tasks like data analytics, large language models and AI training, without the need to invest heavily in infrastructure.
Securing AI sovereignty in Australia
Sharon AI’s partnership with Cisco to launch the Cisco Secure AI factory provides a solution for Australian organisations looking for high-performance AI capabilities that keeps all data and AI processing within the country. The ‘factory’ features full-stack AI data centre infrastructure, with Cisco adding security and monitoring capabilities.
The added security will support widespread adoption of AI across the country, says James Manning, Co-founder and CEO of Sharon AI.
‘This expansion is about more than just raw capacity,’ he says. ‘It’s about providing the specialised, sovereign architectural depth that the next era of AI requires.’
By maintaining data sovereignty, the partnership is upholding Australia’s new National AI Plan by supporting the development, adoption and responsible use of AI. The National AI Plan outlines Australia’s strategy for investing in AI, designed to make the most out of the emerging technology, while minimising the risks.
AI opportunities in Australia
Sharon AI is just one of over 1,500 companies making up Australia’s rapidly growing AI sector. The culture of innovation in the sector is fostered by world-class education, with Australian universities ranked among the best in the world for research output and innovation. Importantly for AI development, Australia excels in computer science, information technology and computational science.
Investment into AI infrastructure is growing. As part of the National AI Plan, the Australian Government has committed A$7 billion to boost AI infrastructure, including A$362 million in targeted grant funding, A$47 million for a Next Generation Graduates Program, and A$39.9 million to strengthen the AI ecosystem, including bolstering the National AI Centre.
An emphasis on safe and responsible AI use puts Australia at the forefront of demand from governments and large enterprises for AI capabilities to be secure and maintain sovereignty.
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