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The ministry affirmed its commitment to facilitating legitimate trade and fostering a secure and responsible investment and trade environment, ensuring that all technology-related investments and trade align with international best practices as well as with multilaterally agreed commitments.
The Malaysia government is currently verifying claims that a Chinese company may have used Nvidia and AI chips for training large language models (LLMs) within the country. In a press statement, the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) confirmed that it is working with relevant agencies to assess if any domestic laws have been breached.
Although Nvidia and AI chips are not classified as controlled goods under Malaysia’s Strategic Trade Act 2010, MITI says "Malaysia will cooperate with any government that requires assistance in monitoring trade in sensitive goods under the export control of their respective countries."
For businesses — especially data centres — the message is clear: Data centres operating in Malaysia are free to make commercial decisions, as long as they operate within the framework of Malaysian laws and regulations. Oversight of the country’s data centre industry and ecosystem is actively managed by MITI in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital through the Data Centre Task Force.
Malaysia also remains committed to upholding international trade regulations and ensuring full compliance with global export control measures. MITI will continue to act firmly against any company operating in Malaysia — including those in the semiconductor and AI industries — that violates Malaysian or international trading regulations.
"While Malaysia maintains a neutral position on unilateral sanctions, companies operating here have been advised to adhere to other countries' unilateral export controls which apply to their international business activities to avoid any secondary sanctions on their businesses," the Ministry stated.
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