ET CIO Southeast Asia

The region's technology leaders gather in Dubai to ask not how fast enterprises can adopt AI, but whether they are ready for it.

YCO Cloud and Aolani have announced plans for a more than 10,000-GPU AI cluster in the Philippines, with the first phase targeted for early 2027. The project is pitched as sovereign AI infrastructure for government, enterprises and startups, but key details on cost, site and customers remain undisclosed.

Singapore is taking a more selective approach to AI infrastructure, with Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How arguing that the region should focus on value rather than sheer computing scale. The city-state is backing tighter rules on data centres and cloud services through the forthcoming Digital Infrastructure Bill, while encouraging Asean markets to specialise in different parts of the AI ecosystem.

The Philippines has approved a $34.4 billion AI infrastructure masterplan that aims to expand data centre capacity to 1.5 GW by 2033. The plan, reported by Southeast Asia Infrastructure, combines public and private funding with renewable energy, water, talent and regulatory goals.Clark-Bataan has been named the main development corridor, underscoring Manila’s bid to compete for regional AI and cloud investment.

Singapore has introduced a Digital Infrastructure Bill to regulate major cloud and data centre operators through new licensing rules. The plan aims to improve resilience, sustainability and investor certainty as demand for compute rises across the economy.The law would formalise standards for security, disaster recovery and energy efficiency, while giving regulators more leverage over scarce land, power and water used by the sector.

Defence Minister Khaled has said the security sector must prepare for AI-driven warfare and develop new technical skills. The remarks highlight a wider shift in defence planning, where talent, cyber capability and digital literacy are becoming as important as conventional hardware.

nanoSkunkWorkX has raised US$2 million from Tin Men Capital to develop materials that improve heat and current flow in AI chip packaging. The Malaysian startup is also extending the same platform into green hydrogen and diagnostics, positioning itself as a frontier hardware play with regional relevance.

Vietnam is urging Qualcomm and Samsung to increase investment in AI and semiconductors as part of a wider effort to move up the technology value chain. The outreach, reported by TradingView News from Reuters, fits Hanoi’s push to attract more advanced work, skills and supply-chain depth rather than remain dependent on assembly-led manufacturing.

Ooredoo Group is investing about $800 million in Zankore, an AI infrastructure platform being developed with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, NVIDIA and Nokia. The deal expands Ooredoo's digital infrastructure strategy into AI compute and highlights Southeast Asia's rising need for large-scale AI capacity.

CelcomDigi has launched Sophia AI, an agentic AI platform aimed at helping Malaysian enterprises and SMEs automate workflows and reduce repetitive work. The move aligns with Malaysia’s push for broader AI adoption, even as policymakers acknowledge that smaller firms remain cautious about cost, returns and implementation complexity.