OneQode, Hitachi Vantara and Cylix team up to launch 'sovereign' AI Factory initiative

Digital infrastructure firm OneQode, together with Hitachi Vantara and AI solutions firm Cylix Applied Intelligence, have announced a sovereign AI factory initiative, an alliance intended to deploy sovereign AI infrastructure across key global markets.

The initiative is designed to allow governments and enterprises to deploy advanced AI capabilities while maintaining full control over data, infrastructure and regulatory compliance.

Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore are initially being targeted, while the US is also being eyed off for future expansion.

OneQode will deliver the energy, facilities, telecoms and compute infrastructure - performance GPU compute, connected by their low-latency global backbone - while Hitachi Vantara brings Hitachi iQ, an AI infrastructure platform that integrates accelerated compute, networking and storage.

Cylix Applied Intelligence will architect and operate the AI layer on top, from readiness assessments and RAG deployments through to fully managed production AI services.

“We cut our teeth on gaming and financial services, building infrastructure for firms where microseconds matter," said Matt Shearing, chief executive at OneQode.

"It’s given us a particular way of thinking about compute, networking and data centre operations, and there’s real demand across the Global South for sovereign AI infrastructure built to that standard, and this alliance lets us deliver it.”

Nathan Knight, VP and MD for ANZ at Hitachi Vantara, added that more than half of the enterprise tenders the company is seeing in Australia now specify sovereign-capable solutions.

“Boards and management teams are now treating data sovereignty as a critical requirement alongside operational resilience and security," he said.

"In the event of foreign ownership, control and intervention, the impact on critical infrastructure and intellectual property would be catastrophic. We applaud OneQode’s decision to make Australia one of the first locations for its Sovereign AI Factory network, and we’re committed to supporting that ambition with infrastructure that meets the standard these workloads demand.”

Ross DiStefano, SVP of HPC&AI at Cylix Applied Intelligence, said sovereign AI requires more than infrastructure; it requires the ability to operationalise AI at scale.

"At Cylix, we design and deploy Sovereign AI Factory architectures and deliver fully managed AI services on top of OneQode’s sovereign infrastructure and Hitachi iQ platforms," he said.

“This allows organizations to move from concept to production quickly, while maintaining full control over their data, compliance, and operational environment. Our role is to ensure AI workloads are not just deployed, but continuously optimized, governed, and delivering real business value.”