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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.
Straits Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Malaysia backtracks on Huawei AI amid US-China chip war
- Malaysia has abruptly distanced itself from an earlier announcement of a China-backed artificial intelligence (AI) project, amid heightened scrutiny over geopolitical sensitivities and ongoing trade talks with the United States. The reversal exposes Malaysia's precarious balancing act as it navigates fierce US-China rivalry over semiconductors – a sector accounting for 40 per cent of its exports. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called the announcement on the AI project by a junior minister on May 19 as 'premature', and insisted that Malaysia remains 'fiercely independent' in choosing technologies. 'To clarify, (the project is) still in the midst of this negotiation. Because it is the private sector, I don't think it's for the government to announce, but as a policy we made it very clear. We are fiercely independent. We want what is best for our country,' he told a media briefing on May 21. He added: 'For a country like Malaysia, I'm not taking into account the skirmishes and the tensions between countries, particularly China or the EU or the U S. We choose what is best for our country.' Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching announced on May 19 that Malaysia would develop a first-of-its-kind AI system powered by Huawei Technologies chips, with plans to deploy 3,000 Huawei Ascend chips as the backbone of a national AI initiative by 2026. Only a day later , her office was quoted by Bloomberg as saying it had retracted her remarks that were made at the launch of the 'Strategic Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure', without explanation. A Huawei representative was reported to have said that the company hasn't sold Ascend chips in Malaysia and that the government has not bought any. The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) on May 21 also issued a statement repudiating Ms Teo's remarks, saying that the project was private-sector driven and not officially endorsed by the government. The about-turn comes as Washington pressures Kuala Lumpur to crack down on suspected smuggling of Nvidia chips to China, amid ongoing US-Malaysia trade talks, and with Beijing courting South-east Asia for AI tie-ups. Malaysia's cautious response appears to reflect its ongoing efforts to maintain strategic balance amid the intensifying US-China tech rivalry. '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 in the May 21 statement. The proposed project – which includes deploying an AI language model by Chinese startup DeepSeek – drew the attention of the White House, which has been monitoring developments closely to counter Beijing's growing influence in global AI markets. 'As I've been warning, the full Chinese stack is here,' President Donald Trump's top AI adviser, David Sacks, posted on X on May 20. The Trump administration rescinded Biden-era global semiconductor curbs, which restricted chip sales to Malaysia, 'just in time,' he wrote. The following day , Mr Sacks ' post on X said: 'UPDATE: the Malaysian government has walked back the announcement. This is after the Deputy Minister of Communications stated, in prepared remarks, that Huawei Ascend chips would 'form the backbone' of the country's national AI effort.' Malaysia remains in discussions with the US on trade matters, including potential tariff adjustments, underscoring its sensitivity to geopolitical implications. While the South-east Asian country is unenviably caught between two rival superpowers, Datuk Seri Anwar sought to downplay the tug-of-war situation . 'This so-called tech rivalry between the United States and China sometimes has been overly exaggerated,' he told reporters at the briefing. Malaysia should clearly demonstrate that it complies with US trade requirements, said Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association's president Wong Siew Hai. 'It is to our benefit to make sure that we are a country that can be trusted to do business with,' Datuk Seri Wong told The Straits Times. Dr Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said: 'Neutrality is nowadays no longer a viable option as both sides are clearly trying to impose their mutually exclusive choices on other countries such as Malaysia.' 'Malaysia would have to study the high-tech business and technological trends carefully and make its strategic choice accordingly, praying that at the end of the day, it would be the beneficial choice,' he told ST. US concern over AI chips being smuggled into China via other Asian transit points was sparked in January when Washington announced new curbs on their export and began probing whether countries like Singapore were being used as transit points to circumvent these restrictions. The semiconductor industry is an important part of Malaysia's economy, with electrical and electronic products making up 40 per cent of exports. The US government earlier this year pressured Malaysian authorities to crack down on the movement of prized Nvidia AI chips that enter the country, amid suspicions that many of these were ending up in China. Hazlin Hassan is Malaysia correspondent at The Straits Times. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
