Aolani, a Singapore-founded AI cloud company, announced a strategic compute collaboration with NVIDIA on 21 September 2026, marking a significant expansion of AI factory infrastructure across Southeast Asia. The collaboration, a first of its scale for a Southeast Asian-founded company, is set to boost the region's profile in the global AI ecosystem by unlocking financing to accelerate and democratize access to AI compute for global AI natives, sovereigns, local enterprises, and SMEs.
The partnership will bring Aolani's total AI factory capacity to more than 100 megawatts (MW). According to the announcement, 22,000 GPUs are expected to be deployed across two AI factories in Malaysia and the Philippines in early 2027, bringing Aolani's total deployment to over 48,000 GPUs. As an NVIDIA Cloud Partner since 2023, Aolani will deploy NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs, a leading AI system designed to help organizations build and scale advanced AI workloads. Aolani will deliver NVIDIA-powered cloud services to AI-native companies, enterprises, startups, developers, and institutions across Southeast Asia. A revenue-sharing and credit-support model will align infrastructure deployment with customer demand, broadening access to large-scale accelerated computing while giving Aolani a capital-efficient path to scale its AI factories regionally.
Southeast Asia is one of the most robust AI markets globally, with AI adoption rates among companies demonstrating stronger momentum than the global average, according to McKinsey & Company. More than US$50 billion has been invested by global hyperscalers in AI-ready data centers and cloud infrastructure, as reported by the Singapore Economic Development Board. While Malaysia has established itself as one of Asia's premier AI factory hubs, the Philippines represents a high-potential emerging market for AI infrastructure. Aolani's deployment in the Philippines is expected to be among the first large-scale AI infrastructure platforms in the country, broadening access to advanced AI compute and supporting the buildout of essential AI infrastructure in Asia.
Nicholas Chia, Chief Executive Officer at Aolani, said: "This collaboration with NVIDIA marks a defining moment in Aolani's mission to deliver world-class AI compute at the speed that matches the pace of AI development, and on infrastructure that is compliant, accountable, and trusted to perform. Southeast Asia is rapidly emerging as a key global node for the next wave of global AI buildout, and we are well-positioned to lead this. We are excited to work with new partners and customers to build the Southeast Asian AI ecosystem and cement the region's central role in the global AI landscape."
The collaboration underscores Southeast Asia's growing importance in the global AI landscape and is expected to have significant implications for businesses and developers in the region. By expanding access to advanced AI compute, Aolani and NVIDIA aim to fuel innovation, support local enterprises and SMEs, and attract further investment. This move could accelerate AI adoption across industries, from healthcare to finance, and help position Southeast Asia as a competitive player in the global AI economy.
