Communications and Digital Minister Meutya Hafid has called on the ASEAN region to work together to create an artificial intelligence (AI) governance system to prevent the digital divide.
At the 2026 Asia Economic Summit , Communication and Digital Minister Meutya said that artificial intelligence (AI) can accelerate growth, increase productivity, and strengthen competitiveness. However, if not managed properly, AI also risks bringing real dangers.
"And this risk isn't just for Indonesia, but for the entire region. If access is unequal, AI will deepen the gap between those who have it and those who don't, both within our country and across our borders," Meutya said.
As AI becomes more sophisticated, Meutya said, data becomes increasingly valuable and a more attractive target. The cost of committing fraud is now nearly zero, and deepfake technology knows no borders.
According to him, if data is controlled by another party, it has the potential to cause future directions to also be shaped by parties outside of its control.
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“And if global AI models never learn our language and values, the region risks losing its own identity,” he added.
Meutya said that these concerns were not a reason to slow down, but rather a reason to act in a planned manner.
Therefore, he encourages not leaving AI development to chance, but rather building it as a strategy, layer by layer, and building it together. When building a strategy together, risks can be turned into strengths.
In this regard, Meutya continued, Indonesia is encouraging the development of AI in ASEAN based on three principles: sovereign , interoperable , and trusted .
The principle of sovereignty emphasizes the importance of state control over data, computing capacity, and the AI models used.
The interoperability principle, which involves sharing open standards and mutual recognition across borders, is followed by the trustworthiness principle , which focuses on implementing shared safeguards and aligns with ASEAN AI governance principles.
