About CAAICE

Why an organisation like this needs to exist right now.

The California–Asia AI & Clean Energy Center is an independent, non-partisan research organisation based in California and organized as a California nonprofit public benefit corporation.

Why we exist

Two things are happening at the same time, and almost no one is studying where they collide.

The first is that Asia is decarbonising — unevenly, contentiously, but genuinely. The second is that Asia is being chosen as the physical location for a large share of the world’s new AI and data infrastructure.

These two facts are not independent. A data centre is, from the perspective of an electricity grid, a very large and very inflexible new customer. Where that power comes from, who pays for the grid upgrades it requires, and whether its arrival accelerates or delays a country’s transition away from coal — these are public policy questions with consequences measured in decades.

They are currently being answered in permitting offices and bilateral negotiations, quickly, and with very little independent analysis available to the people they affect.

What we think the real problem is

The obstacle to clean energy in Asia is rarely the technology. Solar and storage costs have fallen further and faster than almost anyone predicted.

The obstacle is friction between systems: rules that do not connect across borders, standards that do not recognise one another, capital that cannot reach projects because the legal structure is unclear, and grids that cannot absorb what is technically available.

That friction is where we work. It is unglamorous, highly technical, and it is where a small organisation with the right expertise can matter more than its size suggests.

How we work

We publish research and we convene conversations. That is the whole model.

We do not represent clients, broker transactions, or advocate on behalf of any commercial interest. Our value depends entirely on being trusted by people who disagree with each other, and that trust is not recoverable once spent.

Independent. Funders do not review, approve or influence our research conclusions.

Transparent. We publish all sources of funding.

Open. All research is published free of charge and freely reusable.

Where we sit

We are based in California and we work across Asia, with an initial focus on Southeast Asia — Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.

That position is deliberate. California is where much of the technology and capital originates. Southeast Asia is where it lands. Very few organisations are fluent in both contexts, and fewer still can work in the languages and legal systems of each. That is the gap we were built to sit in.

Governance

CAAICE is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors under California nonprofit law. CAAICE is organized as a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, EIN 30-1482336.

Get in touch

We read everything. Write to [email protected].