Nadella's Southeast Asia Adventure!

Reporting on Satya Nadella's

whirlwind tour through Southeast Asia. The Microsoft CEO is making waves, being welcomed like a rockstar as he jets from Jakarta to Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur in just three days.

In Jakarta, he's rubbing elbows with President Joko Widodo, discussing AI research and dropping a cool US$1.7 billion investment bomb. Then it's off to Bangkok, where he's chatting up Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and promising an Azure data center plus more AI investments.

But wait, there's more! In Malaysia, Nadella's got Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in his corner, sealing the deal with a jaw-dropping US$2.2 billion investment pledge. The image of Anwar seeing Nadella off to his car has tongues wagging – is it investor-friendly or a sign of desperation?

With Microsoft's eye-watering investments in AI, the tech giants like Google and Meta are sure to be feeling the heat. Buckle up, folks, because this is shaping up to be a game-changer in the AI arena, fueling a competitive frenzy across the region.