ByteDance Plans To Invest IDR 34.6 Trillion To Build An AI Center In Malaysia

Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Zafrul Aziz. (x @tzafrul_aziz)

JAKARTA - ByteDance, the parent of the social media app TikTok, plans to invest around 10 billion ringgit (Rp34.6 trillion) to establish an artificial intelligence center in Malaysia. This was said by Malaysia's trade minister on Friday, June 7.

As part of the agreement, which is one of a number of global technology companies expanding its presence in Southeast Asia, ByteDance will also expand data center facilities in the state of Johor through additional investment of 1.5 billion ringgit (IDR 5.2 trillion), according to the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Tengku Zafrul Aziz.

"This additional investment by ByteDance without a doubt will help Malaysia achieve its digital economy growth target of up to 22.6% of Malaysia's gross domestic product by 2025," Tengku Zafrul said in a post on X.

The announcement follows a large, similar investment in Malaysia by other tech giants in recent months.

Last month, Google said it plans to invest 2 billion (IDR 32.4 trillion) to develop its first data center and Google Cloud region in Malaysia. Meanwhile, Microsoft said it would invest $2.2 billion to expand cloud services and artificial intelligence.