Author: lethuha

📌 China is seeking to control the wave of AI investment by preventing disorderly and duplicative competition among provinces. The government wants localities to develop AI based on their unique advantages instead of rushing to follow trends. Startups like DeepSeek are making their mark, while data centers in the western deserts are expected to install over 115,000 Nvidia chips – showing great potential but also risks without master planning.

📌 Amid tech tensions with the US, China is promoting a “China-buys-China” strategy, aiming to develop less complex, cheaper inference chips suitable for Chinese companies to close the gap with Nvidia. The government is changing its tech funding strategy: encouraging venture capital for small, core-innovation enterprises and restricting poor localities from pouring capital into AI. In July 2025, President Xi Jinping publicly warned about over-investment. Cambricon has emerged as a symbol, with its stock doubling in 2025 and raising US$560 million for R&D, despite still burning cash. Cambricon’s founder, Chen Tianshi (40), holds a 29% stake, while the Chinese Academy…

📌 Data centers – the main drivers of AI – are boosting global energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, putting immense pressure on developing countries. While the Global South hosts 50% of the world’s internet users, it has less than 10% of the data center infrastructure and bears most of the environmental costs. If the current trend continues, the benefits will remain heavily skewed towards the Global North, while the development space for the Global South shrinks.

📌 Bangkok is now the second-largest data center market in Southeast Asia (after Johor, Malaysia), with a total IT capacity exceeding 2.5 GW, marking its transformation from a niche market to a hyperscale one. This strong growth is driven by its strategic geographical location, abundant land, stable power supply, and favorable regional connectivity, especially in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) with key provinces like Chonburi and Rayong. The main future challenges are shortages of land, power, and connectivity infrastructure due to the high speed of development and demand.

China has released new guidelines to advance the “AI Plus” initiative, laying the groundwork for AI to deeply penetrate key industries and foster new quality productive forces. 📌 China aims for AI to cover 70% of smart devices and systems by 2027, and by 2030, for AI to penetrate 90% of daily life, contributing over 100 trillion yuan (~14 trillion USD) to the global economy. The 2035 vision is for a modern, smart society based on eight pillars, from foundation models and data to security and an open-source ecosystem. “AI Plus” is seen as the key engine for promoting a…

China is accelerating the construction of data centers to meet AI demand but is facing a cooling crisis due to excessively high power density.

📌 Thailand’s data center capacity is expected to grow from 350 MW to 1 GW by 2027, with $6.5 billion in investment from major players such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. The key reason is the country’s stable energy infrastructure and its ambition to catch up with Singapore and Malaysia in the AI sector. In the first half of 2025 alone, 36 tech projects have been approved, with a total investment of nearly \$10 billion. Thailand stands out thanks to its stable electricity and water supply, making it an attractive destination for data center expansion.

📌 The UAE is demonstrating its global leadership in education by integrating AI into schools and digitizing knowledge content. Students from grades 1 to 4 will be evaluated through continuous assessment instead of exams, focusing on critical thinking and analytical skills. The Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC) is also pioneering the digitization of hundreds of print books, including original Arabic works and translations, converting them into digital and audio formats to expand access. The “Wajeez Al Kutub” project provides a library of summaries for hundreds of books, supporting UAE authors by digitizing publications from the Esdarat project and the Qalam…

📌 91% of Thais have integrated AI into their lives, with Gen Z leading in adoption while also being concerned about ethical risks. AI use in the workplace has surged by 93% in just one year, yet only 30% of companies have a clear strategy. Citizens view upskilling as a personal responsibility, and 61% believe they can govern AI better than the government. The demand for safe, fair, and humane AI has become a key factor for sustainable development.

📌 A new MIT report warns that 95% of corporate generative AI projects are failing, despite high expectations. The main reasons: poor integration, wrong tool selection, and misplaced investment focus. Meanwhile, small startups are achieving success through targeted implementation. Companies need to focus on logistics automation and collaborate with specialized vendors to effectively leverage AI.