Aolani, a Singapore-founded AI cloud company, has announced a strategic compute collaboration with NVIDIA that significantly expands AI factory infrastructure across Southeast Asia. The agreement, described as a first of its scale for a Southeast Asian-founded company, is set to elevate the region's role in the global AI ecosystem by democratizing access to advanced AI compute for enterprises, startups, and sovereign entities.
Under the collaboration, Aolani will deploy NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs across two new AI factories in Malaysia and the Philippines, adding 22,000 GPUs to its total capacity. This deployment, expected in early 2027, will bring Aolani's total GPU count to over 48,000 and its AI factory capacity to more than 100 megawatts. The move directly addresses the surging demand for AI compute in a region where AI adoption rates among companies outpace the global average, according to a McKinsey & Company report.
The strategic importance of this collaboration lies in its potential to accelerate AI innovation and economic growth across Southeast Asia. By combining Aolani's cloud capabilities with NVIDIA's cutting-edge hardware, the partnership unlocks financing through a revenue-sharing and credit-support model that aligns infrastructure deployment with customer demand. This approach not only broadens access to large-scale accelerated computing but also provides Aolani a capital-efficient path to scale its AI factories regionally.
Southeast Asia has become a magnet for AI investment, with global hyperscalers injecting over US$50 billion into AI-ready data centers and cloud infrastructure, as noted by the Singapore Economic Development Board. Malaysia has already established itself as a premier AI factory hub, while the Philippines represents a high-potential emerging market. Aolani's deployment in the Philippines is expected to be among the first large-scale AI infrastructure platforms in the country, laying the groundwork for essential AI compute access and supporting the nation's digital economy ambitions.
Nicholas Chia, Chief Executive Officer at Aolani, emphasized the significance: "This collaboration with NVIDIA marks a defining moment in Aolani's mission to deliver world-class AI compute at the speed that matches the pace of AI development, and on infrastructure that is compliant, accountable, and trusted to perform. Southeast Asia is rapidly emerging as a key global node for the next wave of global AI buildout, and we are well-positioned to lead this."
For global AI natives and local enterprises alike, the expanded infrastructure means faster training of large models, reduced latency, and greater sovereignty over data. It also signals Southeast Asia's transition from a consumer of AI technology to a producer of AI innovation, with Aolani and NVIDIA at the forefront. As the region cements its central role in the global AI landscape, this collaboration underscores the strategic value of investing in sovereign AI capabilities and could spur further partnerships and investments in the region's digital future.
