Today
CBA explores replacing local call centre staff with AI
The bank has begun testing its Hey CommBank platform, which would significantly expand the use of artificial intelligence in customer interactions.
- Paul Smith
This Month
Inside the AirTrunk deal: how to build a $24b business in nine years
This week on The Fin podcast, Paul Smith and Anthony Macdonald on whether Robin Khuda can grow a $100 billion business and what might get in his way.
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
How Blackstone and AirTrunk plan to build a $100b business
The deal of the year? That’s old news for Robin Khuda, who is already thinking much bigger. It’s music to the ears of his new deep-pocketed backer.
- Updated
- James Thomson
Blackstone clinches data centre giant AirTrunk in deal of the year
The transaction is one of the biggest Australian M&A deals yet and will add to the global investment giant’s fast-growing portfolio of digital infrastructure.
- Updated
- Paul Smith
Inside the high-tech sheds worth $24b to AirTrunk
From a single room holding a hard-working mainframe, data centres have evolved into major pieces of high-powered, high-tech infrastructure.
- Campbell Kwan
AirTrunk’s $23.5b AI pay day
Blackstone emerged as the winning bidder in the year’s biggest merger and acquisition deal, netting its founder Robin Khuda a $1 billion-plus payday.
- Paul Smith and Anthony Macdonald
August
Microsoft’s Telstra deal backs Vicki Brady’s $1.6b infrastructure bet
The technology giant will become the first client of a big intercity fibre network being rolled out after the telco decided not to sell its InfraCo division.
- Paul Smith
Amazon shares drop as AI costs spook market
Like Microsoft earnings earlier in the week, Amazon investors are ignoring profits, and starting to worry about whether big AI investments will ever be recouped.
- Spencer Soper
July
Microsoft reports slower Azure cloud growth; shares drop
Microsoft’s main growth engine in recent years, its Azure cloud-computing service, expanded revenue by 29 per cent against expectations of 31 per cent.
- Dina Bass and Brody Ford
- Analysis
- The Breakdown
Investors aren’t buying Google’s AI future – yet
The search giant’s parent, Alphabet, produced solid earnings, but shareholders are tiring of claims about future magic without answers to important questions.
- Paul Smith
Google’s biggest acquisition falls over as $35b offer rejected
Cybersecurity firm Wiz has turned down a mammoth takeover bid from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, sticking with an IPO plan.
- Lynn Doan and Julia Love
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
Aussie who sold cloud start-up for $2b jumps on AI for ads
Three years after selling A Cloud Guru in a bumper payday, Sam Kroonenburg is teaming up with advertising entrepreneurs with big plans and investors in tow.
- Paul Smith
Why you shouldn’t set a deadline if you want to be more resilient
The strongest leaders believe in themselves and don’t try to set timelines for when a difficult period will pass, says Macquarie Technology Group CEO David Tudehope.
- Updated
- Ciara Seccombe and Lap Phan
- Updated
- National security
Aussie spies to get $2b top-secret Amazon data centre
The system will let the country’s spies and military collaborate without being connected to the open internet where adversaries could breach it.
- Nick Bonyhady
May
Google to invest $3b in Malaysian data centre and cloud hub
The news follows Microsoft’s announcement that it would put $US2.2 billion into Malaysia’s new cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure.
- Ram Anand
615,000 customers locked out of super accounts by Google fail
The super fund has blamed Google’s cloud computing services for the prolonged outage.
- Lucy Dean
April
AI boom drives $174m data centre deal on 3.6pc yield
Macquarie Technology Group will acquire the Intellicentre Campus at Macquarie Park from Singapore’s Keppel DC REIT as it looks to lift data storage capacity.
- Larry Schlesinger
- Updated
- NEXTDC
NextDC boss says nuclear should be on table as AI sucks up energy
The country’s largest listed developer and operator of data centres is raising $1.3 billion to expand its operations amid a boom in demand for computing power.
- Updated
- Tess Bennett
- Exclusive
Google ‘ghosts’ Aussie staff on promotions as cloud boss quits
The boss of Google’s local cloud division has resigned, with employees saying it has scaled back promotions as it struggles to compete with Amazon and Microsoft.
- Tess Bennett
March
Cybersecurity roll-up Sovereign Cloud Holdings launches rights issue
The new shares issued will represent 245.5 per cent of Sovereign’s shares on issue.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport