Regional data centres boom

But AI surge is mixed blessing for SE Asia

- MARCHIO GORBIANO KATIE FORSTER

A Microsoft data centre under construction in Karawang, near Jakarta, part of a tech construction boom sweeping Southeast Asia.

(AFP)

Nonstop buzzing fills a windowless Microsoft data centre near Jakarta, part of a tech construction boom sweeping Southeast Asia that promises economic opportunities but is also hungry for resources.

As demand for artificial intelligence heats up, technology giants are racing to invest billions of dollars in the region, attracted by a growing plugged-in user base.

New data centres — warehouse-like facilities that store online files and power AI tools from chatbots to image generators — are mushrooming worldwide, and the sector is growing particularly fast in Asia.

AFP was recently granted rare access to a Microsoft data centre in Indonesia that is part of the new boom.

No company logo was visible on the vast boxy exterior of the centre, and visitors were only admitted after careful security checks.

Keeping the systems whirring is a constant operation, with technicians on site even during religious holidays.

Data centre capacity in Southeast Asia is projected to triple from 2025 levels by 2030, driven by a tenfold surge in AI use, according to a KPMG report.

"We expect every app, every workload, every user to be using AI in some part of their workflow" in just a few years, Alistair Speirs, a manager for infrastructure at Microsoft, told AFP.