Sandy Ridge data facility to boost Hong Kong computing power 36-fold after 2030
Hong Kong’s Sandy Ridge Data Facility Cluster, now under construction, will provide 180,000 petaflops of computing power after 2030, a 36-fold increase. The government has also added HK$1 billion to an AI subsidy scheme and will require safety declarations for public-facing AI projects.
The Sandy Ridge Data Facility Cluster is expected to bring a 36-fold increase in Hong Kong's computing power after 2030, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong said on Monday.
Speaking at the Hong Kong International Computer Conference, Sun highlighted artificial intelligence's impact on industries in Hong Kong and worldwide. He said the government, guided by the city's first Five-Year Plan and the latest Policy Address, is accelerating "industries for AI" and "AI for industries" initiatives to build lasting competitiveness and turn Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology centre.
The Sandy Ridge facility, now under construction, is expected to provide 180,000 petaflops of computing power after 2030 — a 36-fold increase over current capacity, Sun said. The government has also injected an extra HK$1 billion into the Artificial Intelligence Subsidy Scheme to back frontier research using high-performance computing, he added.
Sun said the government aims to upskill the city's talent pool through the "AI for All" programme, helping everyone from business professionals to the general public adopt AI tools. To ensure safe and responsible AI development, the Digital Policy Office will require major departments to submit safety and ethics compliance declarations covering the AI technologies used in their public-facing projects, he said.
As part of its risk management, the government is also promoting industry-led governance frameworks and plans to issue safety-management guidelines for AI agents, Sun added.