Countries / Asia-Pacific and Middle East

Bhutan

Name: Bhutan
Address: BT

Bhutan has a 2025 national data governance framework and a reported letter of intent for a hydropower-fed AI data centre in Gelephu Mindfulness City.

The National Data Governance Framework 2025, issued by the National Statistics Bureau and effective 11 July 2025, sets government data exchange and governance rules and asks the GovTech Agency to develop a National Cloud Strategy. It has no explicit data localisation or cross-border transfer provisions. In July 2026 the Canadian company Sato was reported to have signed a letter of intent with Gelephu Mindfulness City for an AI data centre powered by hydropower. A separate press article of 28 June 2025 describes a government feasibility study for a larger national data centre.

AI policy and activity

The data governance framework requires AI systems to align with legal and user safety standards in their data use. No AI law or national compute programme was found.

Power and grid

Reported. The Bhutanese article cites hydroelectric capacity of about 2,326 MW (2023) and says seasonal fluctuations mean winter imports from India may be needed. We did not find a grid operator or ministry page.

Data centres and compute

Data centres and compute
Site	Where	Status	Notes and source
Sato AI data centre, Gelephu (letter of intent) Sato (former cryptominer) with Gelephu Mindfulness City	Gelephu Mindfulness City	Planned	Reported. DCD report of 7 July 2026 on a letter of intent (the letter's own date is not given): 5 MW for the first phase, with an expansion pathway of up to 500 MW. These are different stages and are not added. The agreement is preliminary and the power source is described as Bhutan's hydroelectric resources. (source)

Rules and programmes

Rules and programmes
Instrument	Kind	Status	What it does
National Data Governance Framework 2025 Read the cited source	Policy	In force from 11 July 2025	Primary. National Statistics Bureau PDF. It routes government data exchange through a National Data Exchange Platform, sets a National Data Governance Committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, and tasks the GovTech Agency with a National Cloud Strategy. It says nothing explicit on localisation or cross-border transfers. The effective date is as stated in the document.
Government and DHI feasibility study for a national data centre Read the cited source	Planning	Exploratory	Reported. The Bhutanese article (28 June 2025) says GovTech Agency and DHI are running a feasibility study, seek strategic partners, and describe 40 to 50 MW initially with possible expansion to 50 to 100 MW, construction to start in 2027 over three years, at Gelephu Mindfulness City or elsewhere. The figures are plans, not approvals. We did not find an official source.

Checked on 3 October 2026 and due for review by 1 January 2027. Many sources are trade press or law-firm summaries rather than official texts, and statuses such as reported or unconfirmed are shown as the source gives them. This is a summary, not legal advice. If something is wrong or out of date, tell us.

Cite this page

ComputeFinder. (2026, October 3). Bhutan: AI and compute. ComputeFinder. Retrieved November 14, 2026, from https://computefinder.net/countries/bhutan

BibTeX

@misc{computefinder_countries_bhutan,
  title        = {Bhutan: AI and compute},
  author       = {{ComputeFinder}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://computefinder.net/entity/cf-ctry-0095}},
  number       = {cf-ctry-0095},
  note         = {Page last checked 3 October 2026. Retrieved 14 November 2026.}
}

Stable ID: cf-ctry-0095. Permanent link: https://computefinder.net/entity/cf-ctry-0095. It keeps working if this page moves.

Page link: https://computefinder.net/countries/bhutan. Page last checked 3 October 2026. Retrieved 14 November 2026. Cite the provider or the primary source for any fact you rely on.

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