Hong Kong invests $125M in AI, expands Cyberport’s supercomputing power

Hong Kong’s Cyberport, a government-backed business hub focused on Web3, blockchain and artificial intelligence, is ramping up its investment in emerging technologies to position the city as a global tech leader.

On Feb. 27, Cyberport hosted the “AI Safety, Trust, and Responsibility” forum with international AI academic institutions to discuss AI governance, safety and responsible innovation initiatives.

The Cyberport hub hosts over 270 blockchain technology-related enterprises and more than 350 startups specializing in AI and big data research and development.

A day prior, on Feb. 26, the Hong Kong government’s 2025–26 budget paid special attention to emerging technologies, aiming to “seize the critical opportunities presented by technological reform and artificial intelligence development.”

Hong Kong invests heavily in Web3 and AI via the Cyberport hub

The Chinese Special Administrative Region allocated 1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($125.5 million) to establish the Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced during the Hing Kong budget speech.

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The institute is dedicated to “facilitating upstream R&D, transforming midstream and downstream R&D outcomes, and expanding application scenarios.”

To fuel the Web3, blockchain and AI innovation, Cyberport’s Artificial Intelligence Supercomputing Centre (AISC), which launched on Dec. 9, 2024, will grow to a computing power of 3,000 petaFLOPS and will be able to process 3,000 quadrillion floating-point operations per second.

Streamlining AI research and talent development

Additionally, one of the co-organizers of the AI forum, the World Digital Technology Academy (WDTA), also announced the establishment of the “WDTA Asia-Pacific Institute  (preparatory)” at Cyberport. 

Yale Li, the executive chairman of WDTA, highlighted the institute’s three core initiatives. These include building a “safety-native” technological framework, establishing a “human-oriented” value system and commitment to “responsible innovation.”

Cyberport has signed numerous Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with universities and institutions to help students with internship and employment opportunities. Lastly, the Hong Kong government allocated $3 billion Hong Kong dollars ($385.6 million) to Cyberport for the launch of a three-year AI Subsidy Scheme to support the innovations.

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