• Hong Kong is planning to build a new AI supercomputing center at Sandy Ridge to support startups and strengthen its position as a global tech hub.
  • The city's total computing power is expected to reach 10,000 petaflops by 2030 with help from both government and private sector initiatives.

Hong Kong aims to strengthen its position as a leading tech hub by boosting computing power support for startups, the city's innovation head said, as local entrepreneurs pursue international clients at one of Europe’s largest technology expos.

According to Secretary of Innovation, Technology, and Industry Sun Dong, Hong Kong intends to build a new supercomputing center at Sandy Ridge in the Northern Metropolis as part of a government plan to turn a substantial area of land in the New Territories into an economic center.

The AI Supercomputing Center at Cyberport in Hong Kong, which opened in December 2024 and is expected to provide 3,000 petaflops of processing power by the end of the year, with the capacity to handle 10 billion photos per hour, will be complemented by the new facility.


Sun emphasized the necessity of improved infrastructure, pointing out that Hong Kong's present 5,000 petaflops are not enough to satisfy the city's expanding AI needs.

The Sandy Ridge project is anticipated to greatly increase this capacity, with private sector contributions in the Northern Metropolis potentially reaching 10,000 petaflops by 2030.

The goal of this project is to increase the manufacturing sector's GDP contribution from 1% in recent years to 5% by 2032, in line with the Innovation and Technology Blueprint of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

To promote technology exchanges with Europe, Hong Kong sent 20 start-ups to VivaTech this year, including two from Cyberport and 18 from the Hong Kong Science Park.

Several of them, including healthcare start-ups Imsight, OKOsix, and Vismed; finance companies Aqumon and Midas Analytics; and AI video analytics solutions provider Ailytics, were honored at the conference.

The government has set out HK$3 billion to encourage the development of AI, which includes funding for businesses and academic institutions to use supercomputing capabilities.

Hong Kong's AI environment is already being improved via partnerships between local incubators and companies like Baidu and Cisco.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah