Southeast Asia is rapidly embracing artificial intelligence, with governments, businesses and investors touting its potential to transform economies and deliver up to US$1 trillion in growth by 2030. But beneath this optimism lies a more uncomfortable reality: the region risks becoming structurally dependent on technologies it does not own or control.
New research argues that Southeast Asia's role in the global AI economy mirrors earlier industrial patterns, where wealth and power concentrate in countries that own the technology, while others supply labour, data and raw materials. Despite national AI strategies, data laws and regional frameworks, much of the region's digital infrastructure – from cloud platforms to data centres –remains dominated by multinational tech giants.
This creates what the author calls a "technological sovereignty simulacrum": the appearance of control without the underlying capacity to shape or benefit from the system.
Drawing on economic theory from Ricardo to Marx, the research suggests this imbalance is not accidental but structural, reinforcing inequality and limiting long-term development.
As AI adoption accelerates, the central question remains unresolved: who owns the technology, who benefits from it, and who ultimately bears the cost?
