Malaysia builds $2.36B green-powered AI infrastructure with Nvidia

Malaysia has partnered with Nvidia and YTL Power International in a RM10 billion ($2.36 billion) initiative to establish green-powered AI infrastructure and develop the nation’s own sovereign large language model. The collaboration positions Malaysia as a strategic AI hub in Southeast Asia while advancing the country’s digital sovereignty ambitions through sustainable technology deployment.

What you should know: The partnership will create AI data centers powered entirely by renewable energy sources and deploy Nvidia’s high-performance GPU technology across Malaysia.

• Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz confirmed the initiative includes developing Malaysia’s own sovereign LLM to strengthen national AI capabilities.
• YTL Power, a subsidiary of YTL Corporation, will lead the AI ecosystem buildout in collaboration with global technology firms, suppliers, and local contractors.

The big picture: Malaysia is leveraging its strategic neutrality to become a regional center of excellence for artificial intelligence and semiconductor development.

• “This collaboration reflects our region’s strategic neutrality and growing capacity to position ASEAN as a global semiconductor and AI leader,” Zafrul noted on social media platform X.
• The initiative aligns with broader ASEAN goals to establish leadership in emerging technologies while maintaining political neutrality.

Green infrastructure focus: YTL’s AI Cloud operates from the company’s Green Data Center Park in Johor, which runs entirely on renewable energy sources.

• YTL Communications CEO Wing K. Lee emphasized that this setup “enables companies to harness AI without adding to their carbon footprint.”
• The green-powered approach allows businesses to “drive innovation in a way that aligns with their environmental goals,” according to Lee.

Strategic partnerships expanding: YTL has signed additional agreements to accelerate AI adoption and enhance Malaysia’s network infrastructure.

• An agreement with global data center firm Equinix allows international enterprises to connect to YTL’s AI Cloud through Equinix’s interconnection services, providing secure access to GPU-as-a-Service platforms.
• A separate partnership with Transcelestial will deploy wireless laser communication technology to improve backhaul connectivity between cell towers, offering a faster and more cost-effective alternative to traditional fiber rollout.

Global context: The Malaysia initiative follows Nvidia’s broader strategy of partnering with governments and major technology providers to deploy AI infrastructure globally.

• Last month, Nvidia announced partnerships with European governments across France, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and Nordic countries for sovereign AI development.
• These collective European projects are expected to deliver more than 3,000 exaflops of compute capacity using Nvidia’s new Blackwell platform, enabling secure development and scaling of advanced AI models.

What they’re saying: Industry leaders emphasize the environmental and connectivity benefits of Malaysia’s approach.

• “By integrating state-of-the-art AI infrastructure with green energy, we’re helping businesses drive innovation in a way that aligns with their environmental goals,” said YTL Communications CEO Wing K. Lee.
• “And thanks to Equinix Fabric’s global connectivity, this value proposition can reach enterprises around the world,” Lee added.