Groq has expanded its global artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure footprint to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region through its deployment in Equinix’s International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in Sydney, Australia. Under this partnership, Groq and Equinix will establish one of the largest high-speed AI inference infrastructure sites in the country with a 4.5MW Groq facility in Sydney, offering up to 5x faster and lower cost compute power than traditional graphic processing units (GPUs) and hyperscaler clouds. Leveraging Equinix Fabric, a software-defined interconnection service, organisations in APAC will benefit from secure, low-latency, high-speed interconnectivity, ensuring seamless access to GroqCloud for production AI workloads, ensuring full control and compliance.

By combining Groq’s cutting-edge AI inference technology with Equinix’s global infrastructure and vendor-neutral connectivity solutions, organisations can efficiently scale their AI workloads while maintaining cost-effectiveness and speed.

Key highlights:

  • AI performance at scale – Groq’s LPU Inference Engine, optimised by a custom-built compiler, achieves unmatched throughput and latency for inference on next-gen open-source large language models (LLMs).
  • Purpose-built for AI inference – The LPU delivers instant speed, unparalleled affordability, and energy efficiency at scale. Fundamentally different from the GPU, the LPU was designed for AI inference and language.
  • Equinix Fabric – Groq leverages Equinix’s on-demand, software-defined interconnection service that securely connects businesses to clouds, partners, and digital ecosystems across Equinix’s 270+ facilities across 37 countries.
  • Scalable innovation – The partnership demonstrates how Equinix enables next-generation AI companies to scale globally without building their own infrastructure footprint. Groq technology can be accessed by anyone via GroqCloud, while enterprises and partners can choose between cloud and on-prem AI compute centre deployment.

Commenting on the announcement, Cliff Obrecht, co-founder and chief operating officer (COO), Canva, said: “We are entering a new era where technology has the potential to massively accelerate human creativity. With Australia’s growing strength in AI and compute infrastructure, we are looking forward to continuing to empower more than 260 million people to bring their ideas to life in entirely new ways.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Ross, chief executive officer (CEO) and founder, Groq, said, “The world does not have enough compute for everyone to build AI. That is why Groq and Equinix are expanding access, starting in Australia.”

In addition, Scott Albin, general manager, APAC, Groq, said, “APAC is a key growth market for Groq, with over half of our global developers already using GroqCloud based here. Our deployment in Equinix’s Sydney data centre is our first step to bring high-performance, cost-efficient AI inference closer to the region, enabling secure, low-latency access while supporting data sovereignty and privacy. Together, we are building the infrastructure to drive AI innovation and growth in APAC.”

Moreover, Cyrus Adaggra, president, APAC, Equinix, said, “Groq is a pioneer in AI inference, and we are delighted they are rapidly scaling their high-performance infrastructure globally through Equinix. Our unique ecosystems and wide global footprint continue to serve as a connectivity gateway to their customers and enable efficient enterprise AI workflows at scale.”

The study found that the composite organisation realised significant improvements in performance, security, productivity, and cost efficiency, including the following quantified benefits:

  • 308 per cent ROI and payback in less than six months: The composite organisation that deployed Fortinet Secure LAN Edge realised benefits of $13.1 million over three years versus costs of $3.2 million, resulting in a net present value of $9.9 million.
  • 60 per cent reduction in risk of breaches from external attacks: Fortinet Secure LAN Edge protects the network perimeter at the point of connection, whether a wireless guest user, internet of thing (IoT) device, or corporate endpoint, catching issues before they impact critical infrastructure or business operations and reducing exposure to costly material breaches by $1.6 million.
  • 50 per cent increase in network operations (NetOps) efficiency: By consolidating management of wired, wireless, and security into one intuitive interface, organisations created a single pane of visibility that eliminated redundant tasks and accelerated faster troubleshooting, yielding $1.3 million in operational savings.
  • 20 per cent lower networking and security technology costs: Through consolidation, customers reduced reliance on legacy point solutions, optimised refresh cycles, and required less specialised expertise to maintain systems, resulting in $2.6 million in additional profit from improved availability.
  • Reduced network security response time by 75 per cent: With improved visibility across security and networking components, the composite security team dedicates less time to investigating and resolving network-related risks as technology professionals are looking at the same data. Fortinet’s converged platform means that incident responders have fewer data sources to check with lower incident rates and false positives and faster resolution times for true events. The value of this improved network security response time for the composite is $653,000.

Commenting on the report, Nirav Shah, senior vice president, products and solutions, Fortinet, said, “This study highlights how organisations can realise significant business and operational benefits by converging networking and security. We believe this study underscores what customers consistently experience with Fortinet, that our unified platform, built on FortiOS and powered by AI-driven operations and the Fortinet Security Fabric, delivered measurable efficiency gains, reduced risk, and stronger protection across every connection point, from users and devices to the LAN edge.”