The current export controls placed by the United States on advanced semiconductors and high-performance artificial intelligence models have introduced a new structural barrier to the growing number of emerging and middle power economies striving to participate in the technology-driven global economy. Countries of Southeast and East Asia, in particular, will require access to advanced technology in order to industrialise and upgrade their current economic structures in order to compete on the global stage. Developing a regionally focused AI model for Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan would thus be an economically rational endeavour and is currently a very viable and feasible project given the appropriate approach, vision and implementation strategy.

First and foremost, the economic perspective is key. A general-purpose technology, such as AI, has large and positive spillovers for a wide array of industries, from manufacturing to name a few. As Southeast Asia’s digital economy is projected to reach more than one trillion U.S. dollars in the next decade, the core of its infrastructure is currently based on platforms abroad, mostly controlled by the two superpowers already mentioned. Hence, a regional AI model can increase productivity in a wide array of industries by generating output that is most effective in a regional context. This, in turn, would benefit Indonesia most in improving public services, such as governance and public administration, and industrial........

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