Indonesia telco chief warns of ‘digital colonisation’, backs China’s open-source AI

The biggest threat to middle powers in the artificial intelligence era is “digital colonisation” from expensive and proprietary AI stacks, an Indonesian telecoms executive has said, adding that China’s open-source sales pitch offers better protection for local sovereignty. The emphasis on localisation and digital sovereignty comes as major Chinese AI cloud providers look to compete with US rivals in fast-growing Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia. “The world is moving out of proprietary...