China’s Guoxing Aerospace recently launched 12 satellites, each delivering 744 TOPS of AI computing power, marking the first phase in a vast AI cloud satellite constellation planned to reach 2,800 satellites in the coming years.
Meanwhile, South Korea is investing $1 billion in a new supercomputer to boost research capabilities. However, US tariffs threaten to slow technology spending growth across Asia-Pacific, potentially reshaping the region’s tech outlook in 2025.
China’s Ambitious AI Cloud Satellite Network
Guoxing Aerospace’s 12 newly launched satellites each feature an impressive 744 trillion operations per second (TOPS) and communicate via 100 Gbps laser links, enabling rapid data transfer. Running an 8-billion parameter AI model, these satellites aim to enhance astronomical observation and provide edge computing for applications such as cosmic X-ray polarimetry.
The constellation is designed to reduce latency by processing data close to the workload, also supporting emergency services and drone navigation on Earth, showcasing China’s push to lead in AI-powered space infrastructure.
South Korea’s $1 Billion Supercomputer Boost
South Korea’s Ministry for Science and ICT has partnered with HPE to build a high-end supercomputer featuring Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper chips and AMD EPYC processors. With 8,496 GPUs and 205 petabytes of storage, this system is expected to accelerate AI research and business innovation.
In addition to this, South Korea plans to acquire 10,000 GPUs costing $1 billion to support local scientific and industrial projects, marking a major investment in computing power and technology development.
APAC Tech Spending Impacted by US Tariffs
Analyst firm Forrester revised its 2025 tech spending forecast for the Asia-Pacific region, citing new US tariffs as a key factor. Although tech spending is expected to grow to $722 billion (up from $678 billion in 2024), the imposition of tariffs may reduce growth by 1-2 percentage points due to increased costs and disrupted supply chains.
While countries like India and Vietnam are projected to grow by over 10%, uncertainty around trade policies could cause businesses to delay or prioritize investments differently, emphasizing the need for adaptive planning.
Conclusion
With China’s AI cloud satellite constellation, the country has made huge strides toward building a space-based AI infrastructure that will provide more computing power for AI applications on Earth. South Korea’s robust investment in supercomputers represents ambitions in the region to support innovation driven by advanced hardware.
Generally, despite increasing tech spending in the Asia-Pacific region, rising trade tariffs from the US threaten the future, and companies should adopt far more flexible strategies, given that the geopolitical and economic landscape is shifting. All of these changes are shaping a new and changing technology landscape in 2025.
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