DayOne Data Centers, the Singapore-based data centre operator, is weighing options for its US initial public offering, including a potential delay or a smaller listing that may raise $2.5 billion to $3 billion, roughly half of what it had originally aimed for, Bloomberg reported on 21 October 2026, citing people familiar with the matter. Techmeme’s summary of the report said DayOne had initially sought up to $5 billion in the fourth quarter.
The same morning, The Information reported that Nvidia is in talks to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Firmus, the Australian AI cloud provider that pulled its own IPO earlier this month, according to Techmeme’s summary of the report. Across Asia-Pacific, three listings tied to AI data centres have now been withdrawn, delayed or put under review this month.
Business Pill · FINANCIAL CONDITIONS
A short explainer on financial conditions and how they shape funding. It teaches the general idea only and says nothing about any company in this story.
The key insight: As we read it, the month’s reports describe public investors asking Asia-Pacific data-centre builders for a later date or a smaller raise, while a chip supplier is reported to be discussing capital directly.
DayOne. DayOne is weighing options for its US IPO, “including a potential delay or size cut, as volatility around data centers increases,” Bloomberg reported. It has also been considering pushing back the share sale until the market recovers, the people said.
Firmus. Firmus withdrew its application to list on the ASX, citing recent market volatility and conditions, ABC News reported on 9 October 2026, as our earlier coverage noted. Bloomberg later wrote that Firmus dropped an IPO to raise as much as $5.5 billion.
AirTrunk. A $1.5 billion AirTrunk REIT IPO in Singapore was delayed to next year, CNBC-TV18 reported on 13 October, citing people familiar with the matter, as listed in our October table.
The maximum raise sought by three Asia-Pacific listings tied to AI data centres and what was reported this month: Firmus withdrew its ASX listing (ABC News; Bloomberg on the $5.5 billion), DayOne is weighing a delay or a $2.5 billion to $3 billion listing after initially seeking up to $5 billion (Bloomberg; Techmeme), and the $1.5 billion AirTrunk REIT IPO was delayed (CNBC-TV18).
What Was Posted on X
For over three years, I have been following and reporting on the routes of smuggled chips, the methods of bypass the export control, the participants, the rise of the SEA operations, and the sophisticated methods and operations there. I have reported on and tracked billions of Nvidia chips going there, and many of them have been rerouted.
Now that the money is drying up, one of them, DayOne, a business that was established by the Chinese GDS to bypass AI chip export controls, is brave enough to look to raise money through a US IPO and let you see how it basically works.
I will let my diagram and the web of subsidiaries talk.
A post by the X account kakashiii111 on 6 October with a diagram of DayOne’s subsidiaries. The poster alleges that DayOne was set up by China’s GDS to get around AI chip export controls. These are the poster’s allegations; we did not verify them.
Where the Listed Names Stand
NEXTDC, the ASX-listed operator, on 21 October 2026 removed approximately A$140 million of each of net revenue and Underlying EBITDA from its fiscal 2027 guidance, after power works for its M3 Melbourne data centre were suspended, according to its release. Chief executive Craig Scroggie said: “With M3 revenue deferred, we have paused projects not backed by customer contracts and put that capital behind the capacity our customers have already contracted.” Bloomberg’s headline put the share plunge at 44%.
In Seoul, Elice ended its first Kosdaq session on 20 October at 61,500 won, down 32.04% from its 90,500-won IPO price, according to Korea Exchange closing data. A day later it was trading at 79,900 won, up 29.92%, Chosunbiz reported. Chief executive Jae Won Kim told Bloomberg Television: “We’re basically doubling the revenue compared to last year. That’s like minimum guidance.”
Lablup, an AI infrastructure software company, is seeking a post-listing valuation of up to 320 billion won on 2025 revenue of 6.7 billion won ahead of its 3 November Kosdaq listing, TheElec reported, about 48 times last year’s revenue by our arithmetic.
Our Firmus piece reported the Nvidia talks and the Thinking Machines Lab agreement, and our neocloud shakeout piece covered executives who expect only seven to 10 of hundreds of neoclouds to survive, as The Information reported on 18 October, per Stocktwits.
On the demand side, our Anthropic prospectus piece reported that Anthropic’s draft IPO filing shows around $450 billion of cloud computing agreements over the next seven to ten years, the Wall Street Journal reported. As we read it, Anthropic’s draft filing shows multi-year compute commitments on the demand side, as the Journal reported, while listings of companies that build data centres are being withdrawn, delayed or put under review.
The Structural Read
As we read it, the three listings differ in market and structure, an ASX listing, a US IPO and a Singapore REIT, but Bloomberg and CNBC-TV18 reported the same kind of outcome for each: withdrawn, under review or delayed.
As we read it, NEXTDC’s release shows what investors are weighing: its guidance cut came from suspended power works at one site, not from a lack of customers, and the company said it paused projects not backed by customer contracts.
As we read it, the Nvidia talks reported by The Information would put a supplier where IPO buyers stepped back; no terms have been reported.
Bloomberg, 21 October 2026
“DayOne Data Centers Ltd. is weighing options for its US initial public offering, including a potential delay or size cut, as volatility around data centers increases, according to people familiar with the matter.”
Three Implications
PRICING Bloomberg reported DayOne may raise $2.5 billion to $3 billion, roughly half of what it had originally aimed for.
POWER NEXTDC removed approximately A$140 million of fiscal 2027 net revenue and Underlying EBITDA guidance after power works at M3 were suspended, according to its release.
STRATEGIC CAPITAL The Information reported, per Techmeme, that Nvidia is in talks to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Firmus.
The framework puts it this way: “It is a sovereign-scale financing problem dressed in tech-company clothing.”
As we read it, the October listings fit that description on the reported facts: raises of $1.5 billion to $5.5 billion sought from public markets, with one withdrawn, one under review and one delayed. The framework was published in May 2026 and does not discuss these companies.
What Is Not Established
We read only the opening of Bloomberg’s DayOne report and Techmeme’s summary of it; DayOne has not commented in anything we read, and no decision has been reported. We did not read The Information’s Firmus article, which is paywalled. The AirTrunk timing rests on CNBC-TV18’s sources. Nothing here establishes a single cause across the four markets.
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DayOne is weighing a delay or a listing of $2.5 billion to $3 billion, roughly half its original aim, Bloomberg reported on 21 October 2026, on the same day The Information reported that Nvidia is in talks to invest in Firmus after its withdrawn IPO. As we read it, public investors are asking AI data-centre builders for a lower price or a later date, while a chip supplier is reported to be discussing capital directly.
A note on sourcing. This piece is built on the readable opening of Bloomberg’s DayOne report, Techmeme’s summaries of the Bloomberg report and of a paywalled report by The Information, and our own earlier coverage, which cites its sources. Nothing here is legal, financial or investment advice.
Gennaro Cuofano is a CRO and tech executive who has worked in AI since late 2015, starting with bringing NLP, natural-language generation, voice and chatbot products to the marketing industry. His background is in law and finance: he holds a Master's degree in Law and an International MBA with an emphasis on corporate finance (LUISS Business School and the University of San Diego, 2012), and worked as a financial analyst at a real-estate investment firm in San Diego and as an assistant controller. His work focuses on business model strategy, business engineering and, more broadly, structural analysis: how companies make money, read from their own filings. He created FourWeekMBA and leads research there and at The Business Engineer, his newsletter on AI and business strategy, with over 95,000 subscribers and more than 1,000 published analyses. His writing has also appeared on Entrepreneur (for example, How to Digitize a Family Business in Europe) and HackerNoon. Find him on LinkedIn and Substack. See how we source.
