3 Before 9: April 8, 2026

Australian AI infrastructure builder Firmus Technologies has closed a $505 million funding round led by Coatue Management, with chipmaker Nvidia also participating. The deal values the company at $5.5 billion and marks its third equity raise in six months, bringing total capital raised during that period to $1.35 billion. Firmus builds GPU-dense data centres purpose-built for large-scale AI workloads, with its flagship Project Southgate aiming to deploy multiple "AI Factories" across Australia in partnership with Nvidia and CDC Data Centres. An IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange is expected as early as June, in what would be the country's largest tech listing this decade.

China's navy has fitted its Qinzhou guided-missile frigate with an AI algorithm designed to eliminate blind spots during air defence engagements, according to state media reports analysed by Defence News. The Type 054B stealth frigate, commissioned last year, conducted a combat drill in the South China Sea and is described by Chinese military commentators as a "major leap in integrated combat capability." Broader PLA announcements show AI expanding into drone swarms, space operations and cyber warfare, though analysts say Beijing is picking its battles carefully rather than seeking short-term parity with the United States. One PLA institution has tested AI controlling roughly 200 autonomous vehicles with a single operator.

Microsoft has announced a combined $6.5 billion investment in AI and cloud infrastructure across Southeast Asia, split between $5.5 billion for Singapore through 2029 and more than $1 billion for Thailand through 2028. Vice Chair Brad Smith unveiled the Singapore commitment at the Asia Tech x Inspire event on 1 April, coupling the spend with free Microsoft 365 Copilot access for over 200,000 tertiary students and new AI training programmes for educators and nonprofits. The Thailand portion covers data centre infrastructure built to global green energy and water positivity standards. The investments form part of Microsoft's broader $50 billion Global South AI plan.