Daily news and briefings on Malaysia's AI industry: policy, data centres, startups, enterprise adoption, talent and investment. In English, Bahasa Melayu, Chinese and Tamil.https://ainewsmalaysia.com/enhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/pikom-lead-2026-agentic-ai-summit-mdec/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/pikom-lead-2026-agentic-ai-summit-mdec/About 500 technology executives, policymakers and industry players attended the PIKOM LEAD 2026 Summit in Malaysia, which looked at how the country can become a regional AI powerhouse. According to Citizens Journal, MDEC chairman Ganesh Kumar Bangah said in the keynote that building domestic agentic AI capacity is vital to protect Malaysia's competitive edge.Fri, 06 Nov 2026 04:55:00 GMTEnterprise adoptionhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/google-us15-billion-malaysia-investment-gobind/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/google-us15-billion-malaysia-investment-gobind/Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo says Google's US$15 billion investment in Malaysia, announced on 4 November, must translate into local AI capabilities and not only data centres. According to Digital News Asia, the money is planned over 2027 and 2028 and builds on Google's earlier US$2 billion commitment.Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMTInvestmenthttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/aws-semarak-ai-malaysia-civil-servants-smes/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/aws-semarak-ai-malaysia-civil-servants-smes/Amazon Web Services launched Semarak AI Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur on 4 November, a national programme targeting up to 445,000 government officers and 10,000 small and medium enterprises. The programme gives government officers access to the Amazon Quick AI tool for work such as procurement analysis and policy research.Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMTEnterprise adoptionhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/liew-chin-tong-accountants-multidisciplinary-ai/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/liew-chin-tong-accountants-multidisciplinary-ai/Deputy Finance Minister Liew Chin Tong on 5 November urged Malaysian accountants to become more multidisciplinary as AI reshapes the finance profession. According to Malay Mail, he said AI would displace some less sophisticated accounting roles but is likely to create others that depend on human judgement.Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMTTalent & educationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/hong-leong-bank-tech-trainees-permanent-roles/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/hong-leong-bank-tech-trainees-permanent-roles/Hong Leong Bank has moved all 10 trainees in its graduating tech cohort into permanent roles, Fintech News Malaysia reported on 5 November. During their rotations the trainees deployed AI chatbots using Google's Agent Development Kit and worked with UiPath automation tools.Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMTTalent & educationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/perak-global-vision-lab-ai-data-centre/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/perak-global-vision-lab-ai-data-centre/Perbadanan Kemajuan Negeri Perak and Global Vision Lab Sdn Bhd are exploring a proposed AI data centre in Perak with planned capacity above 100MW. According to The Sun, the parties have signed a non-disclosure agreement and a letter of consent for preliminary assessments, and the capacity is a planning target that has not been finalised.Tue, 03 Nov 2026 14:31:00 GMTData centres & computehttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/ai-governance-bill-early-2027-gobind/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/ai-governance-bill-early-2027-gobind/Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo told the Dewan Rakyat that the proposed AI Governance Bill is complete and will go to the Cabinet in the near future, with tabling planned by early 2027. According to Bernama, the bill would require those who develop, provide or use AI systems to take responsibility for identifying, assessing and managing risks.Thu, 29 Oct 2026 06:39:00 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/klia-customs-ai-chip-servers-seized/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/klia-customs-ai-chip-servers-seized/Customs at Kuala Lumpur International Airport stopped an attempt to transit 30 servers containing advanced AI chips worth nearly RM49.5 million without authorisation. According to Malay Mail, citing Bernama, KLIA Customs director Aspalila Ag. Tuah said it is the fifth case this year involving the same syndicate, with seizures across all five exceeding RM100 million.Wed, 28 Oct 2026 08:01:00 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/employers-ai-ready-graduates-pearson-aws/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/employers-ai-ready-graduates-pearson-aws/A study by Pearson and Amazon Web Services found that 69% of Malaysian employers find it hard to hire graduates with the right skills as AI spreads in the workplace. According to the New Straits Times, the report, launched in Kuala Lumpur, also found 77% of Malaysian learners believe they are ready for work, while 70% say university prepares them well.Wed, 28 Oct 2026 05:45:00 GMTTalent & educationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/softbank-us50-billion-malaysia-anwar/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/softbank-us50-billion-malaysia-anwar/Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son has chosen Sarawak's Kuching and Peninsular Malaysia for US$50 billion in investments covering AI, new technology and data centres. According to Bloomberg, carried by The Star, Anwar made the remarks in a speech in Melaka after a videoconference with Son, and SoftBank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Mon, 26 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMTInvestmenthttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/johor-data-centres-peninsula-power-bmi/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/johor-data-centres-peninsula-power-bmi/Research firm BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, says Johor's data centre industry could use more than 90% of the extra electricity generated in Peninsular Malaysia over the next five years. According to The Edge Malaysia, BMI estimates the state's data centres will need about 30 TWh a year by 2031, or 18% of the peninsula's total supply, up from 6% in 2026.Fri, 23 Oct 2026 04:56:00 GMTData centres & computehttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/maybank-servicenow-ai-resilience-centre/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/maybank-servicenow-ai-resilience-centre/Maybank has signed a five-year strategic agreement with US software company ServiceNow to scale its regional resilience operations centre across Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. According to The Star, the bank will combine operational data, service context, AI and analytics to spot operational risks early.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 01:46:00 GMTEnterprise adoptionhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/data-centre-bill-cabinet-akmal-nasrullah/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/data-centre-bill-cabinet-akmal-nasrullah/Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said the government plans to draft a Digital Infrastructure (Data Centre) Bill for Cabinet submission next year, to regulate growth in line with energy and water supply capacity. According to the New Straits Times, citing Bernama, the National Economic Action Council chaired by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim agreed to the proposal.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 09:26:00 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/budget-2027-ai-measures-sovereign-cloud/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/budget-2027-ai-measures-sovereign-cloud/Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced 100,000 more free AI subscriptions for young people under Budget 2027, citing high demand, with the programme expanding to new apps such as ChatGPT. According to RinggitPlus, the budget also funds AI Malaysia Berhad and MDEC, and the government is planning a Sovereign AI Cloud.Fri, 09 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mohe-30000-ai-graduates-zambry/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mohe-30000-ai-graduates-zambry/Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir told the Dewan Rakyat that his ministry aims to produce 30,000 AI-skilled graduates between 2025 and 2030. According to Malay Mail, citing Bernama, 30 specialised AI programmes at 11 public universities will help reach the target.Thu, 08 Oct 2026 07:47:00 GMTTalent & educationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/cradle-fund-ai-startups-crowded-applications/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/cradle-fund-ai-startups-crowded-applications/Cradle Fund group chief executive Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke told a panel at the Alliance Bank BizSmart Business Conference that the AI startup market is becoming very crowded. According to The Edge Malaysia, AI-related startups account for roughly 60% to 70% of the estimated 1,000 applications the agency receives each year.Tue, 06 Oct 2026 04:00:00 GMTStartupshttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/utm-gpu-supercomputer-public-university/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/utm-gpu-supercomputer-public-university/Universiti Teknologi Malaysia launched high-performance computing infrastructure built on GPUs on 2 October, at a Vice-Chancellor's Gathering at UTM Kuala Lumpur. According to Bernama, UTM is the first public university in Malaysia with such a system, described as the fastest GPU supercomputer among public universities.Sat, 03 Oct 2026 02:06:00 GMTResearchhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mdx-forum-national-ai-compute-exchange/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mdx-forum-national-ai-compute-exchange/Malaysia plans to launch a National AI Compute Exchange in the first quarter of 2027 to make compute more affordable, an MDEC official told the MDX Forum 2026 in a report by The Edge on 29 September. The forum, which drew about 300 representatives, focused on what Malaysia can build on top of its data centre investments.Tue, 29 Sep 2026 00:49:22 GMTData centres & computehttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mohamad-hasan-global-south-ai-unga/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mohamad-hasan-global-south-ai-unga/Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan told the UN General Assembly in New York on 26 September that the Global South must have a meaningful role in AI decisions and not merely host data centres. According to Bernama in The Star, he urged the UN to keep empowering these countries to take part in global AI discussions.Sun, 27 Sep 2026 08:14:00 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/tencent-cloud-utm-ai-hackathon-talent/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/tencent-cloud-utm-ai-hackathon-talent/Tencent Cloud and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) have formalised a three-year collaboration on AI education and cloud skills, and ran a five-week hackathon built on problems set by Malaysian organisations, according to a Tencent Cloud press release on 21 September. Two winning teams will represent Malaysia at the company's global finals in Shenzhen.Mon, 21 Sep 2026 05:43:00 GMTTalent & educationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/keele-utm-data-analytics-ai-centre/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/keele-utm-data-analytics-ai-centre/Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Britain's Keele University have launched the Keele-UTM Data Analytics and AI Centre under a Memorandum of Agreement, Keele said on 17 September. The launch took place during a visit to Keele by senior UTM leaders.Thu, 17 Sep 2026 04:00:00 GMTResearchhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mida-data-centre-nexus-local-value/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mida-data-centre-nexus-local-value/The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) used Data Centre Nexus 2026 in Kuala Lumpur on 14 September to argue that the sector must now deliver value for local firms, not only investment. MIDA said Malaysia recorded RM385.7 billion in data centre related investment from 2021 to the first half of 2026.Mon, 14 Sep 2026 08:06:09 GMTInvestmenthttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/anthropic-election-manipulation-platform-malaysia-mcmc/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/anthropic-election-manipulation-platform-malaysia-mcmc/US AI firm Anthropic said it disrupted a commercial election-manipulation platform that used its Claude models to target voters across Malaysia, The Edge reported on 11 September. According to Anthropic's threat report, the network comprised roughly 1,000 fake X accounts, a fake news outlet and fabricated dossiers, and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) denied any involvement.Fri, 11 Sep 2026 11:48:47 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/aireen-omar-ai-malaysia-board-chair/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/aireen-omar-ai-malaysia-board-chair/The Digital Ministry has appointed Aireen Omar, former chief executive of AirAsia, as chair of the national agency AI Malaysia Bhd, according to a ministry statement reported by The Edge on 11 September. Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said AI Malaysia will be the lead agency coordinating the national AI agenda.Fri, 11 Sep 2026 08:52:19 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/ai-governance-bill-draft-complete-gobind/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/ai-governance-bill-draft-complete-gobind/Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said in George Town on 10 September that Malaysia's draft AI Governance Bill is complete and will go to the Cabinet. According to Malay Mail, he hopes to table it this quarter or in the first quarter of next year, while the government sets up the structure to enforce it.Thu, 10 Sep 2026 03:49:26 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/openai-firmus-malaysia-data-centre-capacity/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/openai-firmus-malaysia-data-centre-capacity/OpenAI has contracted dedicated AI compute from two Firmus sites in Malaysia under a multi-year deal, the Australian infrastructure company announced on 8 September. According to Tech Wire Asia, OpenAI becomes an anchor customer and Firmus's total contracted capacity across all customers rises above 900MW.Tue, 08 Sep 2026 08:30:55 GMTData centres & computehttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/malaysia-huawei-ascend-sovereign-ai-bloomberg/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/malaysia-huawei-ascend-sovereign-ai-bloomberg/Malaysia is seriously evaluating Huawei's Ascend 910C chips as the backbone of a RM2 billion sovereign AI initiative, according to a Bloomberg report carried by The Edge that cites unnamed people familiar with the matter. It is unclear how many chips would be bought, and the Prime Minister's Office, the Digital Ministry, Huawei and Telekom Malaysia did not respond to requests for comment.Mon, 07 Sep 2026 07:43:50 GMTData centres & computehttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/petronas-agentic-ai-myprodata-upstream/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/petronas-agentic-ai-myprodata-upstream/Petronas, through Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), has signed an agreement with Iraya Energies to add agentic AI to its myPROdata platform, World Oil reported. The aim is to speed up how Malaysia's upstream opportunities are evaluated and investment decisions are made.Fri, 04 Sep 2026 04:00:00 GMTEnterprise adoptionhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/nanoskunkworkx-us2-million-ai-chip-packaging/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/nanoskunkworkx-us2-million-ai-chip-packaging/Malaysian deep tech startup nanoSkunkWorkX (nSWX) has raised US$2 million in seed funding led by Singapore-based Tin Men Capital, TNGlobal reported on 2 September. The money will go towards qualification with semiconductor partners, scaling its process platform and further validation work.Wed, 02 Sep 2026 04:00:00 GMTStartupshttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/ai-for-the-people-six-modules-free-ai-tools/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/ai-for-the-people-six-modules-free-ai-tools/The Digital Ministry says participants in AI for the People must complete and pass six modules to receive a free three-month subscription to selected AI applications. According to Malay Mail, the programme targets 100,000 Malaysians aged 18 to 30 until 2027 and starts in phases through the Rakyat Digital portal.Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:10:40 GMTTalent & educationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mida-data-centres-1h2026-approved-investments/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mida-data-centres-1h2026-approved-investments/The Malaysian Investment Development Authority says data centre and cloud-computing projects drew RM95.8 billion, nearly 44% of Malaysia's approved investments in the first half of 2026. According to The Edge, total approvals rose 11.7% year on year to RM218.5 billion as demand for AI computing power kept growing.Fri, 28 Aug 2026 09:45:12 GMTInvestmenthttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/anwar-ai-growth-government-revenue/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/anwar-ai-growth-government-revenue/Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says growth in AI, data centres and the digital economy has not produced a matching rise in government revenue, despite creating jobs and technological capability. Speaking at the 2026 National Innovation and Commercialisation Expo in Kuala Lumpur, according to the New Straits Times, he called it "poor economics" to assume 6 per cent second-quarter growth means substantially more to spend.Thu, 27 Aug 2026 05:21:34 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mpc-productivity-report-ai-spending/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mpc-productivity-report-ai-spending/The Malaysia Productivity Corporation has found that AI spending by Malaysian firms has yet to bring meaningful productivity gains. According to The Edge, its study of 57 manufacturing firms in the Productivity Report 2026 showed only a weak relationship between AI-related investment and labour productivity.Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:37:11 GMTEnterprise adoptionhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/budget-2027-ai-adoption-gobind/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/budget-2027-ai-adoption-gobind/Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo says the government will focus on expanding AI use in the 2027 Budget, due to be tabled in October, including ways to widen access to AI tools. He told reporters at the Petaling Jaya Startup Festival 2026, according to the New Straits Times, that AI Malaysia will need significant funding for expertise and infrastructure.Sat, 15 Aug 2026 07:19:07 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/rakyat-digital-portal-upgrade-ai-access-youths/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/rakyat-digital-portal-upgrade-ai-access-youths/Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo launched an upgraded Rakyat Digital portal at the AI Malaysia Takeover 2026 event, with free generative AI access for 100,000 Malaysian youths. According to Digital News Asia, those aged 18 to 30 who complete selected modules get three months of access, starting from 31 August in four cohorts of 25,000.Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:23:21 GMTTalent & educationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/u-mobile-openai-collaboration/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/u-mobile-openai-collaboration/U Mobile has announced a strategic collaboration with OpenAI as part of its push to become Malaysia's first AI-enabled telecommunications provider. According to Lowyat.NET, the telco gets early access to OpenAI's latest frontier models, while AWS will provide cloud infrastructure and technical expertise.Wed, 12 Aug 2026 08:47:50 GMTEnterprise adoptionhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mpob-sawit-ecotherm-data-centre-cooling/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mpob-sawit-ecotherm-data-centre-cooling/The Malaysian Palm Oil Board has developed Sawit EcoTherm, a palm-based immersion cooling fluid aimed at cutting water and energy use in data centres. Senior research officer Dr Noor Khairin Mohd told Bernama it turns cooling into a water-free process suited to AI and hyperscale facilities.Sun, 09 Aug 2026 01:35:00 GMTResearchhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mygov-agentic-ai-gobind/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/mygov-agentic-ai-gobind/Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo says the MyGOV Malaysia app is being enhanced with agentic AI so that Malaysians can deal with government agencies online more easily. According to The Star, he said this when opening Jelajah Malaysia Digital at Dewan Komuniti Damansara Damai on 8 August.Sat, 08 Aug 2026 05:20:00 GMTPolicy & regulationhttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/petrolprice-sarawak-ai-startup-balaji-fund/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/petrolprice-sarawak-ai-startup-balaji-fund/Sarawak entrepreneur Aaron Nagai has launched PetrolPrice, an AI-powered platform that tracks and analyses energy prices across 196 markets. According to Malaysia SME, the startup is backed by investor Balaji Srinivasan through the Balaji Fund and was valued at US$2 million after its pre-seed round.Sat, 08 Aug 2026 10:53:36 GMTStartupshttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/selangor-39-data-centres-approved/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/selangor-39-data-centres-approved/Selangor approved 39 data centre projects between 2021 and 2025, state investment, trade and mobility committee chairman Ng Sze Han told the state assembly in Shah Alam. According to The Star, the projects were expected to create more than 2,400 jobs, and he said data centre demand has not put pressure on domestic water supply.Thu, 06 Aug 2026 16:00:00 GMTData centres & computehttps://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/aob-audit-firms-ai-technology-risks/https://ainewsmalaysia.com/news/aob-audit-firms-ai-technology-risks/Malaysia's Audit Oversight Board will make technology risk management an inspection focus in 2026 as audit firms use more AI. According to The Edge, its Annual Inspection Report 2025 expects firms to show strong governance, carry out full risk reviews and take steps to reduce those risks.Thu, 06 Aug 2026 07:13:15 GMTPolicy & regulation