ASEAN AI Safe Network to be Endorsed at ASEAN Summit in October

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 (Bernama) -- The ASEAN AI Safety Network (AI Safe) to be endorsed by the leaders at the upcoming 47th ASEAN Summit here in October 2025 with initial inception of the initiative expected to begin by early 2026, said ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn.

He said the establishment of AI Safe underscores ASEAN commitment to responsible artificial intelligence (AI) development and represents a crucial step toward institutionalisation of safety, ethics and governance principles while supporting the implementation of the ASEAN Responsible AI Roadmap.

“The establishment of ASEAN AI Safe aligns with global calls for an international network to tackle AI safety risks through collaboration among governments, academia and industry,” he said in his speech at the ASEAN Artificial Intelligence (AI) Malaysia Summit 2025 on Tuesday.

At the event, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim launched a Malaysian home-grown AI known as ‘ILMU’, built by YTL AI Labs, in partnership with Universiti Malaya (UM).

Kao emphasised that despite ongoing volatility and uncertainty in global trade, the world is witnessing a transformative growth of AI in reshaping every aspect of economies, societies and daily lives.

Hence, he said, the first-ever ASEAN AI Summit has provided a timely opportunity to deepen regional cooperation and build strategic trust around a shared vision with innovation and inclusive development to guide the collective journey into a new era of digital transformation.

Kao said AI is expected to contribute a gross domestic product of 10 to 18 per cent, equivalent to nearly US$1 trillion by 2030. 

Besides, he said this year, ASEAN is prioritising on the ASEAN Digital Economic Framework Agreement (DEFA) to build on the regional digital ecosystem, which could potentially double its projection to US$2 trillion by 2030.

-- BERNAMA