As the US and China compete over AI, Asean must secure strategic autonomy

International relations has long measured power through familiar instruments: military capability, territory, energy, capital and control of trade. The digital revolution added information to that equation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the transformation further by turning information into a strategic capability that can shape economies, governments and societies.For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the central question is no longer whether Southeast Asia will participate in the AI revolution. The more consequential question is whether Asean will possess enough control over the infrastructure, knowledge and systems behind AI to shape its own future or whether it will have to rent intelligence from others.Southeast Asia is rapidly becoming an important physical centre of the AI economy. Data centres are expanding and investment is flowing into digital infrastructure. The International Energy Agency expects electricity demand from data centres in Southeast Asia to more than double by 2030.