Indonesia is set to complete its first national artificial intelligence (AI) strategy next month, aiming to attract foreign investment. As Southeast Asia's largest economy, Indonesia seeks to join the global AI and chip manufacturing competition. Neighboring Malaysia has already made strides in becoming a regional AI hub, attracting billions in investments from global tech companies to meet growing cloud computing and AI service demands.
Nezar Patria, Indonesia's Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital, announced that the AI roadmap will be Indonesia's first comprehensive AI document. Previously, the country only released a smaller ethical guideline in 2023. The roadmap will guide AI developers on market entry, infrastructure, and computing clusters. It will also detail AI applications in healthcare and agriculture.
According to a Boston Consulting Group report, ASEAN countries are expected to benefit significantly from AI, with contributions to GDP ranging from 2.3% to 3.1% by 2027. Despite some investments, Indonesia's AI development lags behind other regional countries. Last year, Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) partnered with Indonesia's largest tech company, GoTo Gojek Tokopedia, to launch a large language model service and supplied chips to telecom company Indosat. Microsoft also plans to invest $1.7 billion in expanding its cloud and AI services in Indonesia.
