Australian operators are positioning the country as an AI compute export hub, leasing rack space and network bandwidth to overseas hyperscalers seeking non-US jurisdiction options.

The vast majority of processing in the data centres being rolled out around the country will be for American technology giants, forcing cloud computing and digital infrastructure developers to defend the construction of the assets as something that will benefit local communities.

That is the view of Boris Dangubic, head of business development for Iren, a Sydney-headquartered, Nasdaq-listed cloud computing operator. Iren has proposed a $10 billion project in the tiny South Australian town of Bundey and now has a market capitalisation of almost $25 billion.