Danantara Explores Partnership with Arm Holdings to Develop Data Centre Chips

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — The Investment Management Agency (BPI) Danantara is exploring cooperation with British semiconductor technology company Arm Holdings to develop chip designs. The move comes amid high demand for data centre infrastructure and a shortage of chip supply for artificial intelligence (AI) needs.

Danantara Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Sigit Puji Santosa said demand for data centre capacity is currently growing rapidly. In fact, newly built data centre capacity is said to be immediately absorbed by the market as soon as it is constructed.

“For data centres, if we build 100 megawatts or 200 megawatts, it is immediately taken up. The off-taker comes straight away,” Sigit said at the OJK Digination Day 2026 event at the Ritz Carlton Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Thursday (27/8/2026).

According to him, Indonesia currently has around 45 large data centres. However, high demand means the construction of new infrastructure still faces problems regarding the availability of various supporting components.

A similar phenomenon is also occurring in several other countries. Singapore, for example, is said to be facing resource constraints in supporting data centre expansion, including in terms of electricity and water.

As a result, industry players have to wait between six months and one year to obtain the required capacity or components.

Amid these conditions, Danantara has begun preparing a strategy to strengthen the national data centre industry supply chain, one of which is through cooperation in the semiconductor sector.

Sigit revealed that Danantara signed a cooperation agreement with Arm last February. The agency is currently developing chip designs together with the company.

“Danantara is cooperating, and we are now working on designing chips together with Arm so that later, for data centre chips, we will no longer need to queue,” Sigit said.

He added that a number of state-owned enterprises (BUMN) have been assigned to oversee the development.

This step is important considering that semiconductor chips, particularly AI chips, are currently among the most sought-after components globally. In fact, according to Sigit, the waiting time to obtain chips in several countries can reach six to nine months.

“For semiconductor chip readiness, the most sought-after at the moment are AI chips, which are extraordinary. Even in China, they have to wait six to nine months,” he said.

According to Sigit, Danantara wants to ensure that all supporting infrastructure for data centres, from systems and subsystems to main components, can be prepared in a more integrated manner.

In addition to technology and supply issues, Danantara also highlighted regulatory challenges and bureaucratic processes that are still considered to need simplification.

Sigit said Danantara is now working to integrate various processes within a single ecosystem to accelerate communication and decision-making. Coordination with various stakeholders, including Commission XI of the House of Representatives (DPR), the Financial Services Authority (OJK), and the Ministry of Finance, is also being continuously strengthened.

“The opportunity is the largest, the assets are working. Barriers certainly exist. That is what we must resolve,” he concluded.