September 9, 2026, (Inside AI) — Zankore, an AI platform backed by Ooredoo, has secured up to $3.1 billion in senior term loan financing. The capital will fund Nvidia-powered GPU and cloud infrastructure across Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
The facility was signed on Wednesday, according to sources. It marks one of the largest AI infrastructure debt deals in the region this year. The funding targets rapid expansion of accelerated computing capacity for enterprise and sovereign AI workloads.
Zankore’s move reflects a broader shift in how AI capacity is financed. Rather than relying solely on equity, operators are turning to debt markets to build capital-intensive GPU clusters. This mirrors strategies used by hyperscalers and neocloud providers globally.
Ooredoo’s backing gives Zankore a telecom-grade operational footprint. The carrier’s regional presence could accelerate deployment across multiple markets. Southeast Asia has become a battleground for AI sovereignty, with governments pushing for local data residency and compute independence.
Debt Financing Reshapes AI Infrastructure Economics
Senior term loans are traditionally reserved for established cash-flow businesses. Their use here signals lender confidence in AI compute as a durable revenue stream. The structure likely includes covenants tied to utilization rates and customer contracts.
Zankore did not disclose the lender syndicate or interest terms. However, infrastructure debt funds and export credit agencies have increasingly backed GPU projects. Nvidia itself has expanded financing partnerships to support its ecosystem.
The $3.1 billion figure is an upper limit. Actual drawdowns may depend on construction milestones and customer demand. This staged approach reduces risk while allowing rapid scaling when contracts materialize.
Indonesia’s digital economy is projected to exceed $130 billion by 2030, according to regional research. AI compute demand is rising from financial services, logistics, and government digitalization programs.
Regional AI Sovereignty Drives Local Capacity
Southeast Asian governments are enacting data localization rules. These policies favor local cloud and GPU providers over foreign hyperscalers. Zankore’s infrastructure could position it as a preferred partner for regulated industries.
The company has not revealed its total planned GPU count. Industry analysts estimate that a $3 billion facility could support tens of thousands of Nvidia H100 or H200 equivalent units. Power and cooling constraints remain critical execution risks.
Competing neoclouds like CoreWeave and Lambda have used similar debt-backed models. CoreWeave secured over $10 billion in debt facilities before its public listing. Zankore’s regional focus differentiates it from these largely U.S.-centric players.
Ooredoo’s involvement also raises questions about telecom operators becoming AI infrastructure landlords. Carriers own fiber, real estate, and power agreements. These assets lower deployment costs compared to greenfield data center developers.
The financing arrives as global AI capital expenditure shows no sign of slowing. Major cloud providers are projected to spend over $500 billion on AI infrastructure in 2026. Zankore’s facility is a regional echo of this global trend.
