A 'Huawei Moment' Looms as US Gears Up to Sell AI-in-a-box to Southeast Asia

It is a throwback to the sharp US-China rivalry seen when the region began 5G rollout

- Bhagyashree Garekar

AUSTIN - The Trump administration wants to make it as easy as possible for Southeast Asia to buy American when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI).

That's a key idea contained in the White House's ambitious new AI-in-a-box initiative unveiled as part of an AI action plan on July 23.

Wary of the region's growing usage of Chinese technology, the US is going all out to position itself to pull Southeast Asia into its orbit.

The moment is a throwback to the sharp US-China rivalry seen when the region began rolling out 5G network plans in 2019.

Most nations partnered with the cheaper Huawei, sidelining US security concerns that Chinese equipment could be a conduit for state-sponsored cyber espionage.

Singapore's leading telcos chose European providers Ericsson and Nokia, while Vietnam opted to develop its own 5G technology.

This time around, the White House is keen not to surrender the space, in Southeast Asia and beyond.

The US has to have the most dominant technological stack in the world, said Mr Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, a key force behind the AI action plan unveiled.

"We have the best chips, the best clouds, the best models, the best applications," he said on July 30, during a packed conference at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to discuss the AI action plan.

"Everyone in the world should be using our technology, and we should make it easy for the world to use it."

As part of the first Trump administration, Mr Kratsios said he had "spent far too much time" as the US technology minister to convince his counterparts around the world to "rip and replace Huawei."