KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): The Malaysian government has distanced itself from a private-sector-driven project to deploy 3,000 units of Huawei’s AI chips by 2026 announced earlier this week, saying it is not endorsed by the government.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) took pains to clarify on Wednesday that the Huawei-backed AI project launched earlier this week was not developed, supported or managed by the government and is not part of any official or national programme.
This follows an earlier launch event where Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching had claimed Malaysia would be the first to use Huawei’s AI servers on a national scale. That statement has since been retracted.
Miti said that while the government is keen on building its own AI-powered infrastructure for the public sector, it noted such an initiative would need to undergo an appropriate level of legal, operational and reputational processes and due diligence.
“Miti would also like to reiterate that Malaysia remains committed to full compliance with all applicable export control laws, national security directives and emerging guidance from global regulatory authorities, especially those that uphold the highest standards of transparency, accountability, neutrality and security, premised upon the principles of multilateralism with the World Trade Organisation at its core,” the ministry said.
“Malaysia also reaffirms its sovereign right to formulate its policies in line with national interest while facilitating transformative technologies that continue to support global research and innovation in the development of advanced technologies for the good of humanity,” it added.
Miti’s statement comes after a Bloomberg report said the project, which would also deploy Chinese startup DeepSeek’s large language model, caught the attention of the US government, which is working to prevent China from capturing foreign AI markets.
Bloomberg reported that David Sacks, US President Donald Trump’s top adviser on AI, used the project’s announcement to validate concerns about China’s growing technological reach in strategic markets.
Just recently, the US Commerce Department released guidance, which was later tweaked, warning overseas companies against using Huawei’s Ascend.
The US initially warned that using Huawei's Ascend chips anywhere in the world might break US export rules. But it later removed that broad warning after China accused the US of hurting trade talks.