The Unicorns Podcast connects you to some of the best and brightest founders, CEOs, executives, business owners, innovators, entrepreneurs and inspiring leaders who make things happen and inspire others.
Host Justin Kelly, former broadcast journalist and PR veteran, chats with leaders from across Australia and internationally about business strategy, what it takes to build a successful company, how to overcome challenges, and advice for those on a similar journey.
In this episode, Justin speaks with David Keane, founder and CEO of SCX.ai, as the Australian AI infrastructure company makes its debut on the ASX.
Trading under the ticker SCX, the company is Australia’s first ASX-listed pure-play sovereign AI inference infrastructure company, providing the computing power that allows businesses and governments to run AI applications while keeping their data in Australia.
The idea behind SCX.ai is straightforward. As Australians use more AI, the country will need significantly more computing capacity to power it. SCX.ai believes a large part of that demand can be met by getting more AI compute from the commercial data centres Australia already has.
The company uses specialised AI processors developed by US semiconductor company SambaNova Systems. Known as Reconfigurable Dataflow Units, or RDUs, the technology has been purpose-built for AI workloads, with SCX.ai deploying it for inference, the “doing” part of AI that occurs every time a model answers a question, analyses a document or powers an AI agent.
SCX.ai says the technology can produce AI responses up to five times faster than conventional GPU-based infrastructure while using around 75% less electricity and 99% less cooling water.
The approach comes as the enormous power and water demands of the global AI boom move rapidly up the political and corporate agenda, with governments in Australia introducing new requirements aimed at ensuring the growth of data centres does not come at the expense of households and communities.
David explains why he believes inference will become one of the biggest opportunities in AI infrastructure, why Australia needs sovereign computing capacity and how rapidly changing chip technology could allow the country to dramatically expand its AI capability without relying solely on a new generation of mega data centres.
The discussion also looks at the economics of running AI at scale, SCX.ai’s partnership with SambaNova, the company’s early commercial traction and what the $40 million IPO will allow it to build next.
This podcast was developed in collaboration with SCX.ai.
The interviews and discussions in this podcast are opinions only and not financial or investment advice. Listeners should obtain independent advice based on their own circumstances before making any financial decisions.
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