AI is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform economic growth, innovation and scientific progress. 

In a new major project commissioned by Google, we’ve worked to explore in more depth the range of opportunities AI creates for countries across the Asia-Pacific region – and steps Governments can take to maximise them. Today, we’re publishing the first output of the research: a summary of some of the opportunities shared across the region.

In total, we found that AI could help power the next stage of the region’s growth, boosting the economy by at least US$2.5 trillion. That’s the equivalent to over half the entire GDP of Southeast Asia. Over time that impact could grow significantly further as AI continues to transform economies.

Here are six of the most interesting things we found:

The Asia-Pacific region has some of the highest levels of AI adoption in the world. Countries like Singapore have some of the highest levels of per capita adoption, while other countries like India and Indonesia have the highest level of absolute users. One reason for this high level of adoption – two-thirds of the people (65%) we surveyed for the research told us they were “optimistic about the potential of AI for their country”, and over half (56%) were optimistic about “how AI would impact their lives specifically”.

Individual users and businesses who are using AI are already seeing significant benefits. As part of our research for the project, we asked people how they were using AI – and heard back a wide range of different use cases. Early adopters of AI tools are already saving significant amounts of time: for example, on average users of Google Gemini in Google Workspace are estimated to save around 10 days a year.

AI can help countries build on their traditional strengths. For Korea, for example, AI-driven translation could help build the already growing international reach of its creative economy, while Indonesia could benefit from smarter agriculture.  For the region, as a whole it is likely to reduce regulatory friction and increase trade, which will particularly benefit hubs like Singapore.

AI can alleviate some of the biggest challenges faced. AI could help address the labour shortages driven by an ageing population in many parts of the region, or reduce current inequalities in access to teaching or medical diagnosis.

Asia Pacific has some of the largest long term potential from AI. The region’s semiconductor expertise, science base and high levels of mobile adoption have seen it already at the forefront of AI. Going forward, AI could help catalyse further growth: accelerating research, boosting the skills base, and creating more responsive, efficient institutions.

However, to take full advantage, we need to ensure that parts of the population don’t get left behind. In our polling, we found usage of AI tools was significantly lower among the older users and those who live in rural areas, who are less likely to be early adopters of a new technology. If we don’t work to reverse this gap in adoption, it could limit the overall potential economic benefits from AI with a shortfall of 18%.

You can find the full fact sheet here.