# Gulf investors seek AI compute opportunities in Asia

> Gulf money is increasingly chasing AI compute in Asia. Ooredoo, the Qatari telecom group, is leading an $800 million investment in Zankore, an Indonesian startup building AI computing capacity, with a target of roughly 200 megawatts by next year. The deal is a small window into a larger flow of capital. Cash-rich Gulf players have been hunting for AI infrastructure exposure beyond their home region, and Southeast Asia, with its growing digital economies and appetite for local data centers, is an attractive destination. For Indonesia, an anchor investment like this could seed domestic compute that regional companies and governments can tap without routing everything through US or Chinese providers. It is another sign that the race to build AI capacity is going global, with investors from the Gulf and operators across Asia striking deals that quietly redraw the map of where the world's models will actually run.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Semafor · Published Wednesday, August 12, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Gulf money is increasingly chasing AI compute in Asia. Ooredoo, the Qatari telecom group, is leading an $800 million investment in Zankore, an Indonesian startup building AI computing capacity, with a target of roughly 200 megawatts by next year. The deal is a small window into a larger flow of capital. Cash-rich Gulf players have been hunting for AI infrastructure exposure beyond their home region, and Southeast Asia, with its growing digital economies and appetite for local data centers, is an attractive destination. For Indonesia, an anchor investment like this could seed domestic compute that regional companies and governments can tap without routing everything through US or Chinese providers. It is another sign that the race to build AI capacity is going global, with investors from the Gulf and operators across Asia striking deals that quietly redraw the map of where the world's models will actually run.

## Source

[Read the full story at Semafor](https://www.semafor.com/article/08/07/2026/gulf-investors-look-to-asia-for-ai-opportunities)

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