AI Boom Sparks $30B+ Data Center Gold Rush Across Southeast Asia

Chinese tech giants like ByteDance, Alibaba, and Tencent are doubling down on Southeast Asia, driving a new wave of AI-fueled data center expansion

The AI gold rush is redrawing Southeast Asia’s digital infrastructure map.

Since OpenAI’s breakout moment in 2023, tech giants like ByteDance, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Oracle, and Equinix have poured billions into building AI-ready data centers across Southeast Asia. That momentum is only accelerating in 2025.

Just last week, Thailand approved three data center projects worth $2.7 billion. One of them—a massive 300MW facility—is backed by Chinese firm Haoyang Data.

Meanwhile, TikTok pledged an eye-popping $8.8 billion over five years to support Thailand’s digital economy, including infrastructure like data centers.

ByteDance isn’t alone. Alibaba Cloud now runs 11 data centers across five Southeast Asian countries. Tencent Cloud has eight across the region. GDS (Global Data Solutions) and Qinhuai Data (ByteDance's infrastructure partner, operating as Bridge Data Centers) are also expanding aggressively in Malaysia and Thailand.

It’s not just Chinese firms. Legacy Southeast Asian players are jumping in too. The grandson of billionaire Robert Kuok is planning new hyperscale builds in Malaysia and Indonesia via K2 Strategic.

What’s driving the frenzy? Growth.

According to the 2024 Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report by Google, Temasek, and Bain, the region’s digital economy is set to reach $263 billion in GMV this year—up 15% YoY—with profits growing 24% to $11 billion. Cloud infrastructure and data demand are rising with it.