Why Every US and Chinese AI Company Is Building Data Centres in Singapore

Singapore has become the place where US and Chinese AI companies build data centres side by side. Google, AWS, Microsoft, ByteDance, and Alibaba all run major infrastructure there. The reason is simple: neutral ground, English-speaking, strong rule of law, and proximity to roughly 700 million people in Southeast Asia. Singapore had a data centre moratorium from 2019; it lifted that with a pilot in 2022 and a second data centre capacity allocation round (DC-CFA2) that opened in December 2025 with at least 200 MW on offer and applications closing March 31, 2026. If you are building in the region, you need to know how that works.

Why Singapore Instead of Only the US or China

Companies that serve global or regional users need a base that is not seen as purely US or purely Chinese. Singapore fits. It has long been a hub for finance, logistics, and tech. Adding AI data centres is an extension of that. For US firms, Singapore offers a stable, English-speaking jurisdiction in the same time zone as much of Asia. For Chinese firms, it offers a base outside mainland regulation and US-China tensions while still being in the region.

The contrast with the Gulf is instructive. Big Tech has expanded in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, but geopolitical risk forced temporary office closures and reassessments when the Iran conflict escalated. Singapore has not had that kind of shock. It is the default neutral hub for Asia.

Who Has Built What There

Google, Amazon, and Microsoft all have multiple data centre builds in Singapore. ByteDance runs a large share of its non-China infrastructure there, including for TikTok. Alibaba Cloud has a major presence. In the first pilot (DC-CFA), 80 MW of capacity was awarded to Equinix, Microsoft, GDS Holdings, and an AirTrunk-ByteDance consortium. The investments are in the billions. A large portion of Southeast Asian and broader Asian traffic for US and Chinese services runs through Singapore.

The Power Constraint and the New Green Rules

Singapore is small and power-constrained. The government has been cautious about how much energy goes to data centres. It did not just lift the moratorium; it attached strict green mandates. Under the Green Data Centre Roadmap and the second allocation round (DC-CFA2), new data centres must meet requirements that are among the strictest in the world: at least 50% of power from eligible green sources (biomethane, low-carbon ammonia, hydrogen, solar, etc.), Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.25 or better at full IT load, and BCA-IMDA Green Mark for Data Centres 2024 Platinum certification. The target is to add around 300 MW of capacity in the near term, with at least 200 MW in this round. Applications close March 31, 2026.

That means capacity is not unlimited and new builds are more expensive than in unconstrained markets. Companies that want to build in Singapore are competing for power and land and must invest in efficiency and green energy. For developers choosing a region for deployment, Singapore offers low political risk and good connectivity, but capacity may be tighter and potentially more expensive than in less constrained markets.

What This Means for Developers Building in the Region

If you are serving users in Southeast Asia or East Asia, Singapore is the obvious place to put primary or failover infrastructure. Latency to the region is good, and the legal and operational environment is predictable. You should factor in that power and land constraints limit how much new capacity comes online and at what cost. Diversifying across Singapore and one or two other Asian hubs (for example Tokyo, Sydney, or Mumbai) is a common strategy. If you are on AWS, GCP, or Azure, check which availability zones or regions map to Singapore and what the failover options are. Multi-region designs that include Singapore plus another hub will be more resilient to both demand spikes and policy changes.

Key Takeaways

• Singapore: default neutral location for both US and Chinese AI and cloud infrastructure in Asia; 700 million people in Southeast Asia within reach
• 80 MW: capacity awarded in first DC-CFA pilot to Equinix, Microsoft, GDS, AirTrunk-ByteDance
• At least 200 MW: on offer in DC-CFA2; applications close March 31, 2026; Green Data Centre Roadmap targets about 300 MW additional capacity near term
• New builds must meet PUE 1.25 or better and 50% green energy; Green Mark Platinum
• For developers: Prefer Singapore for regional latency and stability, but plan for capacity and cost constraints; use multi-hub strategies and confirm failover
• What to watch: DC-CFA2 awards and any further capacity rounds; Singapore policy on data centre permits and power through 2026 and 2027