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Epoch Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Malaysia Says Government Not Involved in AI Project Using Chinese Huawei Chips
The Malaysian government appears to be reconsidering its previous announcement that its Strategic Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure project would run on DeepSeek and Huawei Ascend chips, which the U.S. Commerce Department recently The Malaysian Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) on May 21 published a statement addressing media reports that questioned whether the project would violate U.S. export control laws. 'The said initiative was not developed, endorsed, or coordinated by the Government of Malaysia, nor does it form part of any Government-to-Government agreement or nationally mandated technology programme,' MITI The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security had on May 13 issued a reminder that Huawei Ascend chips were likely developed in violation of U.S. export controls, and that the Chinese makers used restricted U.S. technology to create the AI chips. Malaysia's statement notes that AI-powered government infrastructure would first go through 'appropriate due diligence and uphold highest standards of applicable global laws' and that 'Malaysia remains committed to full compliance with all applicable export control laws,' referencing the World Trade Organization and affirming its right to set sovereign policies. The statement did not address DeepSeek or the Huawei Ascend chips directly. Related Stories 5/15/2025 5/14/2025 Huawei told Reuters it has not yet sold Ascend chips to Malaysia-based technology infrastructure company Skyvast, its partner in the Malaysia infrastructure project. MITI and Skyvast did not respond to an inquiry from The Epoch Times by publication time. Global AI Race At a launch event on May 19 at the St. Regis Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Deputy Minister of Communications Teo Nie Ching announced a 'transformative' national AI strategy in collaboration with Huawei, Skyvast, Chinese battery maker Leadyo, and Shanghai Free-Trade Zone executives. In a Ching said there would be a phased rollout of 3,000 Ascend chips by 2026, forming 'the backbone of Malaysia's national AI grid.' She said that for years, Malaysia was kept out of the front of the race by 'foreign infrastructures, cloud dependencies, and barriers to high-performing computing' but that the infrastructure the tech partners were bringing would change all that. 'We are not merely adapting to the age of Artificial Intelligence. We are shaping it, securing it, and leading it. And we are doing so on our terms, with trusted partners, and with the wellbeing of our people at heart,' Ching said. She touted Malaysia's relationship with China, saying the project 'advances one of Malaysia's most strategic bilateral partnerships' and co-develops a new model of 'cross-border AI governance' as the Southeast Asian nation would become China's first international AI partner. Meanwhile, the United States is set to roll out a new AI diffusion rule to position the American AI tech 'stack' as a first choice for international partners. The Malaysia–China partnership was announced a week after the United States revealed AI partnerships with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. David Sacks, the Trump administration crypto and AI czar, said on social media platform X that Malaysia's announcement was a 'harbinger of things to come.' 'As I've been warning, the full Chinese stack is here. We rescinded the Biden Diffusion Rule just in time. The American AI stack needs to be unleashed to compete,' Sacks The Biden administration had finalized an AI diffusion rule in January that would have sorted countries broadly into three tiers, with different levels of access to American AI technology. The Trump administration rescinded the rules days before they would have gone into effect in May, and has been in favor of promoting global adoption of American AI technology with a much broader approach than the previous administration, as seen with President Donald Trump's recent multibillion-dollar AI deals in the Middle East. Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle have Reuters contributed to this report.
Free Malaysia Today
21-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Govt not involved in local AI project with Huawei, says ministry
The investment, trade and industry ministry said the private initiative is not part of any government-to-government agreement or nationally mandated technology programme. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The government is not linked to the recently announced artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure initiative involving local firm Skyvast Corporation and China's Huawei Technologies, says the investment, trade and industry ministry. In a statement, the ministry said the private initiative is not part of any government-to-government agreement or nationally mandated technology programme. The ministry said that while the government is committed to building an AI-powered infrastructure to enhance public sector capacity and services, any such initiative must undergo the appropriate legal, operational and reputational due diligence. 'Malaysia also reaffirms its sovereign right to formulate its policies in line with national interests while facilitating transformative technologies that continue to support global research and innovation in developing advanced technologies for the good of humanity.' The ministry said Malaysia remains fully committed to all applicable export control laws, national security directives and international regulatory frameworks, 'especially those that uphold the highest standards of transparency, accountability, neutrality and security, premised upon the principles of multilateralism, with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core'. The statement follows a Bloomberg report quoting deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching as saying that Malaysia would be the first country to deploy Huawei's Ascend GPU-powered AI servers on a national scale. On Monday, Teo announced that Malaysia planned to deploy 3,000 units of Huawei's flagship AI servers by 2026. Her office later retracted the statement without explanation. It remains unclear whether the project will proceed as initially outlined. Huawei has not issued any comment. The project was first reported by local outlet Malaysia-China Insight and has since drawn attention from the White House, which is working to curb China's expansion in the global AI market. David Sacks, a former AI and crypto adviser in the Donald Trump administration, wrote on X that the Trump team's reversal of Joe Biden-era semiconductor export controls affecting Malaysia came 'just in time'. The reversal followed guidance published — and later revised — by the US commerce department, warning global firms that using Huawei's Ascend chips could violate export controls. The department initially said the chips' use 'anywhere in the world' might breach regulations but later modified its statement and removed the phrase amid rising tensions with Beijing. Observers say the US is aiming to expand its AI hardware presence in regions like Southeast Asia and the Middle East to reduce global reliance on Chinese alternatives.
Reuters
21-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Malaysia government say not involved in local AI project involving Huawei chips
KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Reuters) - Malaysia's government did not develop, coordinate or endorse an artificial intelligence project involving a local company and Huawei Technologies, its trade ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement followed media reports that a Malaysian company, Skyvast Corporation, would deploy Huawei chips for the project. The ministry said it wanted "to clarify that the said initiative was not developed, endorsed, or coordinated by the Government of Malaysia, nor does it form part of any Government-to-Government agreement or nationally mandated technology programme."
