Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s data centre sector maintained a positive outlook despite recent allegations that Chinese firms have been training their artificial intelligence (AI) models at a local data centre powered by Nvidia chips, according to MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the investment bank expressed confidence that the Nvidia chips in question were from previous generations, not the latest GB200 models. MIDF Amanah is awaiting the outcome of an investigation by the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry regarding these claims.
The Wall Street Journal reported that in March, four engineers from Beijing traveled to Malaysia with 80 terabytes (TB) of data stored on hard drives, including spreadsheets, images, and video clips, to train an AI model. The report suggested that these activities were intended to accelerate processes before the anticipated AI Diffusion Framework, which was expected to be implemented on May 15, 2025, was rescinded.
Despite these allegations, MIDF Amanah noted that there has been no slowdown or delay in ongoing data centre projects in Malaysia. Contractors remain actively engaged in bidding for new data centre construction jobs, with several transactions occurring in the past few months.
The investment bank continues to have a positive outlook on the construction and utilities sectors, expecting companies like Gamuda, IJM Corp, and Sunway Construction to benefit from a robust pipeline of data centre projects. Additionally, YTL Power International is developing a 500 megawatt (MW) Green Data Centre in Kulai, in partnership with Nvidia, and plans to launch the first 20 MW AI data centre by August 2025, equipped with the latest GB200 chips.
Furthermore, Tenaga Nasional is poised to benefit from increased energy consumption by data centres over the long term. The utility giant recently signed an agreement under the Corporate Renewable Energy Supply Scheme (CRESS) with DayOne Data Centers to supply up to 500MW of renewable energy over a 21-year term, supported by new solar generation capacity.