Report: SEA makes up ~50% of APAC data center capacity being built, led by Malaysia and Thailand, which paused 49 and delayed approvals of 117 projects in Sept. (Arundhati Hazra/The Guardian)

Southeast Asia accounts for approximately 50% of the data center capacity currently being built in the Asia-Pacific region. According to The Guardian, this growth is led by Malaysia and Thailand, though power and water constraints are creating pressure on the sector. In September, Thailand paused 49 projects and delayed approvals for 117 others.

Khaosod English reports that Google has announced plans to invest $15 billion in Malaysia over 2027 and 2028. The investment will fund new data-center campuses, water infrastructure, clean-energy projects, and training programs. Google aims to add more than one gigawatt of clean-energy capacity to Malaysia's electricity grid and intends to train approximately 800,000 Malaysians by 2031.

Google's current operational campus is located at Elmina Business Park in Selangor, with additional campuses planned for Selangor and Negeri Sembilan. These facilities are intended to support a planned Malaysian cloud region and provide computing capacity for government agencies and businesses developing AI applications. The construction of these campuses is estimated to contribute an average of $1.1 billion annually to Malaysia’s GDP during 2027 and 2028.

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, Khaosod English — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.