TLDR: A significant geopolitical competition is unfolding in Southeast Asia as global powers, including China, seek to influence the region’s burgeoning artificial intelligence (AI) governance frameworks. While nations like Japan, the US, and Europe are also engaged, China is actively promoting its AI and digital infrastructure advantages. Southeast Asian countries, recognizing their collective potential, are striving to establish unified AI policies and ensure their voice is heard on the global stage amidst varying levels of AI readiness across the region.
Southeast Asia is rapidly emerging as a pivotal region in the global artificial intelligence landscape, driven by a large, young, and increasingly tech-savvy population of over 700 million. This burgeoning digital economy has become a focal point for international powers aiming to shape the future of AI governance and establish rulemaking frameworks.
The geopolitical competition is evident as countries like China actively engage with Southeast Asian nations. On August 15, 2025, Malaysian Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo highlighted the region’s accelerated adoption of new technologies and digitalization, welcoming China’s significant advantages in AI, cross-border systems, and other high-tech fields. Speaking at the 2025 China Mobile Southeast Asia Cooperation Conference, he emphasized that such collaboration could ensure inclusive and sustainable development across all societal levels within ASEAN. China Mobile’s Executive Vice President Li Huidi further underscored Southeast Asia’s emergence as a global AI hub, attributing it to strong economic growth, a young populace, and rapidly improving computing infrastructure, expressing China’s readiness for deeper collaboration.
While the original news summary pointed to Japan, the US, and Europe also vying for influence, the broader discourse emphasizes the global implications of AI technologies and the need for Southeast Asia’s active inclusion in global AI safety circles. The Brookings Institution and AI Safety Asia (AISA) were set to host an online discussion on August 28, 2025, to delve into a new report examining Southeast Asia’s role in global AI governance, highlighting how diverse and developing regions can adapt global best practices to their unique realities.
Within Southeast Asia, there is a strong aspiration to forge its own path in AI governance and project a more influential voice globally. Dr. Jun-E Tan, Senior Research Associate at Khazanah Research Institute, noted on August 11, 2025, that the region’s diversity and shared challenges present an opportunity to shape its AI future. She pointed out that while Singapore is highly advanced in AI with established governance, other nations like Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia are making steady progress, while some are still building foundational digital infrastructure. Dr. Tan, who was scheduled to speak at the ASEAN AI Malaysia Summit (AAIMS 2025) on August 12-13, stressed the importance of policy leadership, coordination, data sharing, and trust for regional alignment, which can lead to tangible outcomes from AI readiness to advocating for safeguards reflecting regional priorities.
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Despite these ambitions, challenges persist. The significant disparity in AI readiness among Southeast Asian nations, ranging from Singapore’s global ranking of 6th in the Government AI Readiness Index (2020) to Myanmar at 131st, underscores the varied developmental stages. A general lack of technical capacity across different societal levels also poses risks and hinders meaningful participation in AI governance, making it difficult for policymakers to fully grasp implications and for civil society to mobilize effectively on issues like data privacy and cybersecurity.
