KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 28): The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Governance Bill is being drafted to strengthen safety and accountability in the AI ecosystem amid risks posed by autonomous technologies and identity impersonation, said Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo.

He said the measure is necessary to address the possibility of AI systems acting contrary to human instructions or evading attempts to shut them down.

“The government is aware of the risks associated with autonomous AI, including agentic misalignment and shutdown avoidance, as reported by Anthropic.

“These risks underscore the need to strengthen AI ethics and safety measures to safeguard national sovereignty,” he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2027 at the policy stage for his ministry in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday.

Gobind said the proposed bill also placed particular emphasis on identity impersonation and false information, both of which are difficult to detect and pose challenges in establishing accountability.

To support the legislation, he said technical initiatives such as MY-AISafe, the AI Code of Ethics and the MY-AI Standards Platform had been developed to provide guidance and frameworks for AI safety testing.

On data sovereignty, Gobind said plans are also in place to develop a Sovereign AI Cloud under Budget 2027 to safeguard the country’s strategic information.

“The concept of data sovereignty must be viewed pragmatically and strategically, with an emphasis on meaningful, reasonable and proportionate control based on risks and national interests.

“Therefore, the Digital Ministry's approach is to safeguard data security and the interests of the people while ensuring that Malaysia remains open to international trade, cross-border cooperation and technological innovation," he said.

Earlier, responding to an interjection by Datuk Willie Mongin (Gabungan Parti Sarawak-Puncak Borneo) on the need to raise awareness of AI-related risks among primary and secondary school students, Gobind said his ministry is ready to work with other ministries to coordinate relevant learning modules.

He said the establishment of an entity such as AI Malaysia is crucial to providing the specialised expertise needed to assess the effectiveness and risks of rapidly evolving technologies.

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