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Resty Woro Yuniar

Indonesia’s decision to join a new China-led artificial intelligence body has raised questions about how far Jakarta can push its digital ambitions without complicating its ties with Washington.
For Indonesia, membership in the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation (Waico) offers a route to training, infrastructure and a bigger role in global AI governance as it seeks to boost technological development.
But analysts said the move could also be seen as a political manoeuvre that may test a recent trade agreement with the US, which requires Jakarta to consult Washington before entering digital trade pacts that could jeopardise American interests.
On Thursday, Indonesia was among 29 countries that signed an agreement to establish Waico, an initiative promoting global governance on AI. Other founding members include Russia, Brazil, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
“The development of artificial intelligence should not be a solo performance by any single country but rather a symphony of global cooperation,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said during Waico’s launch ceremony on Friday, which United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also attended.
“We should together oppose the practice of overstretching the concept of national security in the field of artificial intelligence, and of placing one’s own security above that of other countries.”


Under Waico, Beijing said it would develop an open-source AI platform accessible for collaboration with member nations and provide 5,000 training opportunities to developing countries.
Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesia’s coordinating minister of economic affairs, represented the country at the event. In a statement, he said that through Waico, Jakarta expected “global AI governance to promote equitable development, a human-centred approach and national sovereignty”, among other goals.
Indonesia aims to become a regional AI hub, helped by lower operational costs and more available land compared with countries such as Singapore.
Airlangga said any AI-related cooperation under Waico would “remain in line with national regulations and interests”.
“Indonesia’s digital economy is currently at US$130 billion, and we are moving towards unlocking a US$300 billion [digital economy]. The numbers are multiplying thanks to AI,” he said.
In Shanghai, Airlangga also invited Chinese tech giants Huawei and ByteDance to invest in Indonesia’s AI and cloud infrastructure.
Airlangga said Waico membership did not mean Indonesia was abandoning its digital cooperation with the United States.
“AI is a technological product, a neutral and non-political tool,” he said on Friday. “Indonesia remains involved in what is called Pax Silica. The two schemes are not necessarily at odds because they are grounded in different orientations and priorities.”
Pax Silica is the US-led initiative on AI and supply chain security established in December, whose 24 signatories include Singapore, the Philippines, India, South Korea and Japan.

Geopolitical risk
While Jakarta insisted that joining Waico was not political, analysts said the move could raise questions about its diplomatic posturing and risk Indonesia’s technological development.
The friction could come from the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) that Jakarta signed with Washington earlier this year, which contains a “poison pill” clause requiring Indonesia to consult the US before signing any new digital trade pacts that could jeopardise American interests.
“I think the decision to join Waico was very much political. It was an attempt to identify economic opportunities for Indonesia, but also to expand Indonesia’s presence within the broader AI governance landscape,” Gatra Priyandita, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s Cyber, Technology and Security Programme, told This Week in Asia.
While both countries had yet to ratify the ART, Gatra said Waico participation could narrow Indonesia’s access to US-made AI models and proprietary technology.
“Within the US and China, there are still a lot of internal debates as to whether they should be providing more advanced AI models to countries that are not trusted partners,” Gatra said.
“Indonesia’s participation in Waico might actually jeopardise potential access into more decent kinds of US-made AI models. The Americans are seriously thinking about export controls and ways in which they can provide access to certain models based on whether they consider the country trustworthy or not.”
For Muhammad Habib Abiyan Dzakwan, aligning with a Beijing-backed AI body highlights a lack of cohesion within Jakarta’s own bureaucratic ranks, as the move was executed by the economic affairs coordinating ministry instead of the foreign ministry.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have the final say on Indonesia’s participation in various initiatives proposed by major countries, including the US and China,” said Muhammad, an international relations researcher with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies Indonesia.
“The coordinating ministry may have downplayed the issue by saying that this move won’t have any consequences, but other [countries] may have perceptions about Indonesia’s image, [diplomatic] posture and credibility. That’s a far more important [issue].”

Data centres hub
Gatra said Indonesia joining Waico did not amount to political alignment with Beijing, as Western-made AI technology remained popular in Indonesia and officials had courted American technology giants to establish data centres in the country.
Earlier this month, Airlangga said several data centre projects worth up to US$20 billion were already planned in the country with a combined capacity of 1.3 gigawatts, up from the current 580 megawatts.
Ongoing projects include a 360MW AI data centre complex in Batam developed by Australia’s Firmus Technologies in partnership with US chipmaker Nvidia, which will be among the largest AI computing hubs in Southeast Asia.
However, Muhammad said Indonesia must first improve its domestic ecosystem – including human resources, research and design capabilities and investment governance – before it can become a regional AI hub.
Gatra urged Jakarta to consider the environmental and social impacts of its AI drive.
“It’s a good step in the sense that AI firms are seeing the potential of Indonesia, that means more provision of resources for developing indigenous capability, but we also need to think about the other elements like environment and labour [rights],” he said.


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Analysts warn joining the new body could limit Indonesia’s access to US-made AI models and proprietary technology


Analysts warn joining the new body could limit Indonesia’s access to US-made AI models and proprietary technology.


Will Indonesia’s decision to join China-led AI body complicate US ties?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Analysts warn joining the new body could limit Indonesia’s access to US-made AI models and proprietary technology

Analysts warn joining the new body could limit Indonesia’s access to US-made AI models and proprietary technology