SB Telecom Singapore, a subsidiary of Japan’s SoftBank Corp., has joined forces with Singapore’s SC ZEUS Data Centers and Malaysia’s Robust HPC Group to develop AI data center infrastructure across Southeast Asia, marking a significant cross-border collaboration aimed at meeting surging demand for AI computing capacity in the region.
The three companies signed a memorandum of understanding effective August 1, 2026, SB Telecom Singapore announced on Monday. Under the agreement, the partners will target initial deployments in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, with a focus on building and operating GPU-powered AI factories tailored to regional enterprise and cloud workloads.
Under the three-way arrangement, SC ZEUS Data Centers will be responsible for sourcing land, designing, building, and operating the core data center infrastructure. Robust HPC Group will handle the procurement, setup, and management of high-performance GPU clusters, while SB Telecom Singapore will manage data hall fit-out, ICT infrastructure integration, localized deployment support, and connectivity solutions.
The planned facilities will feature liquid cooling infrastructure, 800 VDC power architecture, and low-latency networking, reflecting the technical demands of next-generation AI workloads. The partnership covers two primary areas: GPU infrastructure supply, build, and operation, as well as dedicated AI data center construction and development across the region.
Beyond physical infrastructure, the collaboration will explore GPU-as-a-Service platforms and AI Token Factory commercial models, signaling a broader industry shift toward service-based AI compute offerings rather than traditional capacity leasing alone.
Hisao Inoue, Managing Director of SB Telecom Singapore, said the alliance combines ICT connectivity, SC ZEUS’s infrastructure capabilities, and Robust HPC’s supercomputing expertise to deliver scalable, real-time computing environments for AI workloads across Southeast Asia. The partnership comes as Southeast Asia emerges as a hotspot for AI infrastructure investment, with neighboring hubs such as Johor, Bangkok, and Jakarta racing to expand data center supply to attract hyperscale and enterprise demand.
The collaboration underscores a growing trend of cross-border partnerships in the region, where land, power, and technical expertise are often distributed across different jurisdictions. By pooling resources, the three companies aim to shorten deployment timelines and offer integrated solutions that span from raw land to live AI compute capacity.
SoftBank Telecom Singapore, SC ZEUS, Robust HPC Sign AI Data Center Pact Across Southeast Asia
By: IDCNOVARegion: Southeast Asia