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Asia-Pacific data-centre investment reached US$11.6 billion in 2025, according to CBRE’s 2026 regional outlook. AI and cloud demand are driving expansion, but the investment story is also about a scarce resource: sites with enough power, land and infrastructure to deliver capacity. The announced spending and project pipeline signal activity—not guaranteed returns or completed facilities.
Why AI and cloud demand are attracting capital
Cloud adoption and wider digitalisation are increasing demand for hyperscale facilities used by large cloud providers, as well as data centres serving enterprises. AI adds a further requirement: workloads often need high-density computing and sites that can support substantial power and cooling needs.
CBRE identifies AI, cloud adoption and digitalisation as drivers of demand, and points to neoclouds—AI-focused cloud providers specializing in high-performance computing—as an additional source. That demand is not uniform or risk-free: CBRE says adoption remains selective, and some landlords are cautious about prospective tenants’ credit quality.
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“AI is reshaping how infrastructure is selected and deployed across Asia Pacific,” said Matt Madden, CBRE’s Senior Managing Director, Data Centre Solutions, Asia Pacific, in the firm’s 21 May 2026 outlook.
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Investment, construction and operating capacity are different measures
Investment totals describe capital activity; a development pipeline describes projects at different stages; operational capacity measures facilities already live. Treating those figures as interchangeable overstates how much capacity is available today.
| Measure | Asia-Pacific figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Data-centre investment | US$11.6 billion in 2025 | CBRE’s regional investment figure, reported in its 2026 outlook; it is not a return figure. |
| Development pipeline | 19.4 GW in 2025 | Cushman & Wakefield reported 3.7 GW under construction and 15.7 GW planned. |
| Operational capacity | 13.8 GW in 2025 | Cushman & Wakefield’s separate measure of capacity already operating. |
The pipeline is substantial, but most of its reported capacity was planned rather than under construction. Planned projects can be delayed, changed or cancelled, so the 19.4 GW figure should not be read as live supply. Cushman & Wakefield described the market as being “in delivery mode”; its Head of Data Centre Group for Asia Pacific, Andrew Green, said the pipeline reflects committed cloud and AI demand as well as the region’s ability to turn plans into live supply.
Where capacity is growing
Expansion is reaching beyond established hubs. CBRE identifies Malaysia, Australia and India as power-advantaged growth markets. Cushman & Wakefield’s 2025 market coverage includes Greater Tokyo, Singapore, Mumbai, Johor, Greater Jakarta and Bangkok, but the available figures do not support a complete like-for-like ranking of those metros.
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Johor and Mumbai show notable metro growth
Cushman & Wakefield reported that Johor’s operational capacity rose from 401 MW to 897 MW in 2025. In Mumbai, reported operational IT load increased from 542 MW to 768 MW over the same period. These figures illustrate growth in two specific markets; they are not a ranking of all Asian data-centre markets.
The useful comparison depends on the question: operational megawatts indicate current scale, construction and planned capacity indicate possible future supply, and vacancy indicates current colocation availability. Power readiness, land and delivery schedules help show whether that potential can be realized. Definitions and reporting dates can differ by source.
How the money is being deployed
Capital reaches the sector through different routes: cloud providers can fund infrastructure directly, operators can raise equity for platform expansion, and individual projects can use debt financing. These examples have different scopes and dates, so they should not be added together as if they were one comparable investment total.
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| Example | Announced financing or investment | Scope and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Expected to exceed US$33 billion by 2039 | Amazon’s 21 May 2026 announcement covers its planned cloud and AI infrastructure investments in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. The horizon is a company plan, not completed spending. |
| DayOne | More than US$2.0 billion in Series C equity financing | Announced by the company in January 2026 to support expansion across several markets. DayOne also reported approximately 1 GW in secured customer commitments; that figure is company-reported, not operational capacity. |
| Batam campus financing | IDR 6.7 trillion (SGD 530 million) loan | DBS reported in June 2025 that it and UOB arranged the financing for three DayOne data centres in Batam’s Nongsa Digital Park. The announcement said around 72 MW of combined IT load was expected upon completion by the end of 2025; that expected outcome is not independently verified here. |
DayOne describes its platform as using high-density, liquid-cooling-enabled designs and renewable and low-carbon power pathways. Those are company descriptions of its approach, not independent verification of performance or emissions outcomes.
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Power availability is a central constraint. CBRE says access to power increasingly determines where new capacity can be delivered, while land and power availability are lagging demand in parts of the region. A market with strong customer interest may still struggle to turn that interest into operating facilities if suitable sites or power connections are unavailable.
- Power access and delivery: Grid availability and the timing of power connections can influence where projects proceed and when capacity becomes usable.
- Land and construction: Suitable land, construction costs and longer project lead times affect both project feasibility and delivery schedules.
- Cooling and sustainability: High-density AI workloads raise cooling requirements, while operators must weigh infrastructure growth against power and sustainability priorities.
- Regulatory complexity: Rules and approval processes can add complexity to development decisions across different markets.
- Demand and tenant risk: AI demand is growing, but adoption is selective and landlords may assess whether prospective tenants are creditworthy.
What the investment figures do—and do not—show
CBRE’s US$11.6 billion figure records regional investment, while the pipeline figures describe capacity at operating, construction and planning stages. Amazon’s spending plan, DayOne’s financing and customer commitments, and the Batam loan each describe a different form of capital or demand. None establishes region-wide investment returns, and the company plans and estimates should not be mistaken for achieved outcomes.
Amazon’s projected economic contribution and job totals are company estimates tied to its investment plans, not reported results. More broadly, announced capital and a large pipeline show where companies intend to build; whether projects reach operation depends on delivery conditions, including power, land and construction.
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