Thai billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi is ramping up its artificial intelligence (AI) investments, having reached a partnership agreement with Google to expand its AI business. Its subsidiary, Gulf Edge Co., led the signing to provide AI infrastructure services and support Gulf Development's transformation into an AI-native technology company.On the 20th, it was announced that Gulf Energy will build a hyperscale data center in Chonburi province, Thailand, in a deep collaboration with Google Cloud. The data center, powered by 100% renewable energy from Gulf, will focus on AI training and inference and is expected to begin operations in the fourth quarter.Gulf Energy is investing $1 billion, with an initial capacity of 40 megawatts, later expandable to 300 megawatts. Google will supply AI infrastructure such as Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) and the Vertex AI platform to help Thai businesses migrate to the cloud.At a press conference, Ratanavadi stated, "AI is the next frontier of Thailand's digital economy. This collaboration will make Gulf a pillar of AI innovation in Southeast Asia." Analysts are also optimistic, believing Gulf Energy's share price has 20% upside potential and predicting AI revenue will grow at an annual rate of 10% to 15%.This collaboration is not only a major strategic move for Gulf Energy in developing AI, but also part of the Thai government's digital economy strategy, aiming for a $50 billion digital economy by 2027. Gulf Energy's new strategy will give it a leading position in the Southeast Asian data center market, which is projected to reach a $20 billion size by 2030.