KUALA LUMPUR: Zetrix AI Bhd, formerly known as MY EG Services Bhd, is eyeing a global Muslim population of two billion with NurAI, the world’s first syariah-aligned large language model (LLM).
Co-founder and head of AI development Datuk Fadzli Shah said the initial rollout will cover Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, a combined market of 340 million people with majority following the Shafi’i school of thought, before expanding to other madhhab.
“Yes, we have active plans for those and we have partnerships in place to be able to address those markets,” he told reporters at the launch of NurAI today.
He described the “One Madhhab at a Time” strategy as a deliberate and scalable approach.
“As we fine-tune this for a specific madhhab, it will help inform us on how to handle the model when we cross to serve the second, third and ultimately the fourth madhhab.”
Developed with China’s DeepSeek, Fadzli said there is little to no risk of state intervention from either Asean or China.
“From a governance perspective, although we are grateful that this initiative originated from the Asean-China AI Lab, there is no influence from any government,” he said.
He said that NurAI remains an independent project focused on its purpose as a syariah-aligned and syariah-based LLM.
“Having said that, we welcome partnerships with all states to further not only their local Muslim communities but also others who can benefit from the worldview of a syariah-aligned LLM.”
Built on Islamic principles and reflecting the Global South worldview, NurAI delivers guidance aligned with syariah rulings across a wide range of subjects, from contemporary issues such as law, healthcare and finance to classical themes including Islamic history, philosophy and Quranic studies.
The platform will feature specialised channels, including an Islamic finance channel developed in partnership with INCEIF University, an affiliate of Bank Negara Malaysia, alongside channels led by Islamic scholars worldwide.
Looking forward to the rest of FY2025, Fadzli said Zetrix will be exploring ways to integrate its two core technologies, blockchain and AI, as part of its long-term growth strategy.
“What we’re most excited about is to get the AI part of our vertical strategy to be better tested.”
He added that the company will announce several initiatives to improve the usability and stickiness of its services.
“We see blockchain as the data layer, which stores and references information, and AI as the processing layer,” he said.
He said Zetrix will look to work with the best, whether through collaborations with ecosystem partners or by hiring top talent.
“Competing in this space is a global challenge, so we are working to build strong, borderless teams that can collaborate across technologies.”
In April, Zetrix was appointed the core chain for the Malaysia Blockchain Infrastructure, a government-linked initiative with Mimos Bhd aimed at linking various blockchain systems and making the technology more accessible across industries.
The platform is also integrated with China’s national blockchain network to enable secure trade facilitation and digital identity exchange between Asean and China.
