Asia is becoming a self-supporting AI ecosystem. Western firms are missing out

Capital, physical manufacturing, power and compute are converging in the region

    • The overall volume of Asia-Pacific mergers and acquisitions rose 33% year on year to cross US$1 trillion in 2025, according to Mergermarket.
    • The overall volume of Asia-Pacific mergers and acquisitions rose 33% year on year to cross US$1 trillion in 2025, according to Mergermarket. PHOTO: PEXELS
    Published Tue, Aug 4, 2026 · 07:00 AM

    THE artificial intelligence race – considered in totality as frontier models backed by infrastructure – is often framed as America’s to lose.

    But Asian markets are converging on capital, physical manufacturing, power and compute in ways that give the region a genuine, standalone ecosystem claim on the AI economy.

    That shifts the calculus for Western corporates used to buying mature firms with sustainable growth, rather than backing startups early, and changes the parameters of the AI competition.