In a note, Maybank IB said that cloud computing demand in Asean continued to show a compound annual growth rate of 20%-30%, providing a stable foundation for data centre operators.

Recently, the US government imposed artificial intelligence (AI) diffusion control measures which raised concerns about data centre construction in Asean due to graphic processing unit (GPU) supply restrictions.

Maybank IB emphasised that the US diffusion framework remains flexible enough to influence Asean’s pace.

“The rise of more efficient large language models (LLMs) will likely accelerate and democratise AI adoption, driving demand while easing concerns about GPU supply constraint.

“Overall, we retain a positive outlook on Asean’s data centre demand,” it said.

The investment bank said most new data centres in Asean are being built to support both AI and traditional cloud workloads, ensuring flexibility amid evolving demand.

While near-term demand is driven by the cloud, longer-term AI adoption in Asean is inevitable, driven by localised or sovereign AI services, proximity to end-users, and Asean cost efficiencies.

“The expansion of AI infrastructure in the US allows a larger share of GPUs to be allocated for export, partially mitigating the impact of AI diffusion regulations that restrict direct GPU shipments abroad,” it added.