YTL And Nvidia Establish Investment Partnerships Of IDR 66.96 Trillion For AI Infrastructure In Malaysia

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (right). (photo: x @anwaribrahim)

JAKARTA - The utility unit of the Malaysian conglomerate, YTL, will partner with the US technology giant, Nvidia, to develop artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure worth US$4.3 billion (Rp66.96 trillion) in the neighboring country.

The project's first phase is expected to operate in mid-2024, as stated by YTL Power International in a statement on Friday, December 8.

Nvidia and YTL have been in advanced talks to partner in artificial intelligence infrastructure. This includes supercomputer and cloud computing, where the project will be hosted at a data center in Johor state.

In this agreement, the two companies will work together in building the fastest supercomputer in Malaysia using an intelligence chip made by Nvidia. "YTL Power International will also use the Nvidia-made intelligence cloud computing platform to build a large language model in Malay," said YTL Power.

The announcement confirms that the project will be hosted at the YTL data center park in Kulai, Johor.

This partnership is expected to strengthen the rapidly growing ecosystem of artificial intelligence in Southeast Asia as well as Malaysia's ambitions as a semiconductor manufacturing force. The country has seen multi-billion dollar investments from global semiconductor players in recent years, including from Intel and Infineon.

"Malaysia is an important hub for Southeast Asia's computing infrastructure, which requires access to land, facilities, and power, and YTL could play a major role in that," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters earlier in the day, without directly confirming the deal.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that the collaboration between Nvidia and YTL involved investments worth 20 billion ringgit (Rp66.96 trillion).

"The decision to invest in Malaysia is a clear signal that foreign investors, especially tech giants, continue to make this country the main destination in the region," said Anwar, after a meeting with Huang and YTL Power Managing Director Yeoh Seok Hong, in Malaysia's administrative capital, Putrajaya,