As the US and China compete over AI, Asean must secure strategic autonomy

International relations has long measured power through familiar instruments: military capability, territory, energy, capital and control of trade. The digital revolution added information to that equation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the transformation further by turning information into a strategic capability that can shape economies, governments and societies.
For the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), the central question is no longer whether Southeast Asia will...