KUALA LUMPUR: MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd has clarified that Malaysia’s data centres will remain unaffected by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry’s (MITI) latest directive on artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports.
The new rule mandates a Strategic Trade Permit (STP) for all exports, transshipments, and transits of US-origin high-performance AI chips in Malaysia. However, MIDF emphasised that domestic data centres using these chips will not face additional restrictions unless they plan to move the hardware out of the country.
“There is zero impact from this directive in our opinion, as far as data centres in Malaysia are concerned. This is not an additional red tape that could delay the process of setting up a data centre in Malaysia,“ the investment bank said in a research note.
MIDF highlighted that most new data centres in Malaysia are already AI-ready, though some may later be repurposed for non-AI applications. The directive primarily targets the movement of AI chips out of Malaysia, which MIDF views as a strategic measure to prevent unauthorised exports, particularly to China.
“MITI’s latest directive covers all these. It is hoped that this will be able to placate the US when negotiating the restrictions of AI chip exports under Trump’s refashioned AI Diffusion Rule,“ MIDF added.
The bank also noted potential shifts in US export policies, including a possible move from a three-tiered country system to a licensing regime based on government agreements. This could relax current computing power limits for non-Tier 1 nations like Malaysia, allowing greater AI capacity planning.
Regardless of policy changes, MIDF believes the core objective remains unchanged: restricting China’s AI development by preventing US chips from being used in Chinese AI training models. – Bernama
