International and Chinese mainland digital technology and artificial intelligence companies are expanding their data center footprint in Hong Kong, betting that the city’s proactive efforts to develop AI and its role as a regional hub attracting new businesses will drive strong demand for computing power.
Multinational digital infrastructure firm Equinix on Tuesday announced the opening of HK6, its sixth international business exchange data center in Hong Kong. With an initial investment of $124 million, the facility represents Equinix’s single largest investment in the city over the past decade.
Equipped with liquid cooling technology, HK6 will provide 1,000 cabinets in its first phase, and is expected to scale up to 3,550 cabinets at full build-out.
The new data center is interconnected with Equinix’s existing campus as well as the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park — a cross-border initiative aimed at strengthening cooperation within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The company said the connectivity would allow enterprises and startups in the 11-city cluster to access shared opportunities and support research and development.
HK6 also houses the AI Discovery Hub developed with information technology firm HPE and chip giant Nvidia. The platform is designed to provide companies with an environment to build, test and scale AI applications across hybrid and multicloud systems.
“HK6 is a clear testament of our long-term commitment to the (Hong Kong) market and our conviction in its trajectory,” said Joanne Hon, Equinix’s managing director for Hong Kong.
According to Hon, HK6 has already secured customer commitments, mainly from financial services companies, alongside cloud service providers and network operators. Healthcare firms have also showed interest, underscoring strong demand for AI infrastructure.
She added that many multinational and local enterprises are in discussions with Equinix, citing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s role as a gateway for international and Asia-Pacific companies entering the Chinese mainland and for Chinese firms pursuing global expansion.
Separately on Tuesday, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and AI software company SenseTime signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop the AI Data Centre, which they describe as the largest domestically developed center of its kind in the Hong Kong SAR, targeting computing capacity of more than 40,000 petaflops by 2030.
The first phase is planned for completion by the end of this year. The center will deploy domestically produced GPU clusters to support model training and large-scale AI applications in sectors including finance, healthcare and education.
Under Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Lillian Cheong Man-lei, said the project reflects closer collaboration between industry and research institutions and will support Hong Kong’s ambition to become an international innovation and technology hub.
She added that the future completion of the Sandy Ridge Data Facility Cluster — an under-construction development that is expected to deliver up to 180,000 petaflops of computing power by 2032 — together with the project co-built by the HKSTP and SenseTime, would help advance both the development of AI-focused industries and the adoption of AI in traditional sectors.
SenseTime CEO Xu Li said, “Computing power today should not be viewed simply as infrastructure, but as part of a broader industrial service chain.” What is delivered to customers, he said, is not only a chip or basic processing capacity, but an integrated service designed to help them make more effective use of AI.
Hong Kong could serve as a “super-connector” and “super-value-adder”, integrating AI models, GPU resources and related services developed on the Chinese mainland into comprehensive solutions and bringing them to overseas markets, Xu said.
Chen Ruqing contributed to the story.
