Communities across Asia are pushing back against rapid AI data-center expansion, citing concerns over power, water and transparency. Governments, meanwhile, are courting projects that need substantial land, electricity, water and reliable connectivity. People living near the buildout are asking questions, while governments and developers decide how quickly it proceeds.
Who Sets the Terms
Malaysia leads regional expansion, supported by policy guidance, infrastructure and its proximity to land-constrained Singapore. Activity has gathered around the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, where developers are pursuing cloud-computing and artificial-intelligence capacity. Countries with suitable infrastructure, affordable inputs and investor-friendly regulation are drawing projects.
Malaysia’s Department of Statistics recorded $11 billion in cumulative foreign investment in the information and communication sector in the first quarter of 2023, equal to 5% of total foreign investment. By the first quarter of 2026, that figure had climbed to $32.5 billion, or 12% of total inbound investment. The Malaysian Investment Development Authority said it approved $96 billion in data-center and cloud-computing projects between 2021 and the first quarter of 2026, including $24 billion in the first half of 2026. Approvals aren’t realized investment—a distinction that matters when public policy and scarce resources are arranged around projected demand.
Indonesia is attracting capital, too. Batam’s Nongsa Digital Park Special Economic Zone offers eligible projects tax and other fiscal incentives, while subsea cable connections have supported new construction. Around Jakarta, state-backed Telkom and private-sector firms and investors are developing large industrial-scale data centers. Indonesia has about 580 MW of current capacity and aims to reach 1.3 GW in the near term. Government data showed information-services investment rose from $967 million in 2023 to $3.4 billion in 2025.
Thailand’s Board of Investment received applications in 2025 worth $24 billion across 151 digital-industry projects, mainly data centers. Not every project is expected to win approval or become operational. Vietnam’s government plans to reach 870 MW of data-center capacity by 2030, local media reported.
The Resource Bill, the Demand Bet
The expansion depends on businesses and consumers spending billions on cloud computing, AI and other digital services. But planned investment is so large that it raises a basic question: will demand justify the outlays and the resources these facilities require? Communities facing rapid expansion have raised concerns about power, water and transparency. The report describes pushback, but offers no specific demands or outcomes.
Corporate bets are growing alongside state incentives. Samsung is investing $1 billion in Helix Digital Infrastructure, a new AI infrastructure company backed by global investment firm KKR. Six Samsung affiliates are taking part. The investment is a bet on infrastructure powering the global AI boom.
Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent, signed agreements with Australia’s Firmus for graphics processing unit compute capacity at Firmus data-center facilities in Southeast Asia. Firmus said the agreements provide contracted capacity and expansion options using Nvidia’s full-stack DSX platform for Meta’s AI research, model development and training. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The deal builds on Meta’s existing deployment of Nvidia GB300 NVL72 systems at Firmus’ Melbourne data center, which the company described as the largest deployment of Blackwell Ultra systems in the Southern Hemisphere. Firmus designs, manufactures and operates AI factories for large-scale workloads and is preparing for a $5 billion initial public offering to fund AI-project growth; it could become Australia’s second-largest IPO.
More Capacity, More Questions
Samsung Electronics Executive Vice President Kim Taewoo said high-bandwidth memory could account for nearly 30% of DRAM chipmakers’ total wafer capacity in 2027, up from about 20% currently. HBM and standard DRAM compete for the same wafer capacity, he said, so more HBM output could constrain standard DRAM supply. The stacked memory is a key component for AI computing. South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, along with U.S.-based Micron Technology, dominate the market.
Supply-chain sentiment remains bullish, even as some call for AI development to slow. Nikkei Asia reported that unprecedented investment had filled AI infrastructure providers’ order books and pushed production to the maximum. The report opened with a Silicon Valley gathering of thousands of suppliers, held three days after Anthropic chief Dario Amodei triggered debate that month about slowing frontier AI development and AI-related stocks fell. The infrastructure rush continues while communities ask who controls its costs—and whether anyone with power intends to answer.