Nvidia's forthcoming $200 million artificial intelligence hub in Indonesia, set to be established in collaboration with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, marks a significant stride in the U.S. tech leader's expansion into Southeast Asia. The center, slated for Surakarta in Central Java, as highlighted by Indonesia’s Communication and Information Technology Minister Budi Arie Setiadi, aims to enhance regional telecommunications infrastructure, develop local talent, and foster digital expertise.
Last month, Indosat announced that it was ready to integrate Nvidia’s next-generation chip architecture, Blackwell, into its infrastructure, with “the goal of propelling Indonesia into a new era of sovereign AI and technological advancement”.
Following the 2022 merger between Qatar's Ooredoo and Hong Kong's CK Hutchison, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison emerged as Indonesia's second-largest mobile telco. Nvidia's expanding footprint in Indonesia signals a broader strategic move into Southeast Asia amidst escalating data demand driven by the burgeoning digital economy. Singtel, a prominent Singaporean telco provider, disclosed in January its collaboration with Nvidia to integrate artificial intelligence functionalities into its data centers across the region.
Singtel announced in March that by the end of this year, businesses across the region would gain access to Nvidia's advanced AI computing capabilities without the necessity of investing in or overseeing costly data center infrastructure. Nvidia's revenue stream from Southeast Asia has proven significant, with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing from last year revealing that approximately 15%, or $2.7 billion, of the company's revenue for the quarter ending in October stemmed from Singapore.
In that quarter, Singapore ranked fourth in Nvidia's sales rankings, trailing behind the U.S., Taiwan, and China and Hong Kong, which generated 34.77%, 23.91%, and 22.24% of the revenue, respectively. However, Singapore's revenue surged by 404.1% compared to the same period the previous year, reaching $562 million, outpacing Nvidia's overall revenue growth. The latest quarterly earnings report from Nvidia highlights data centers as the primary revenue source, totaling $18.40 billion amidst the global AI boom.