The Ministry of international Trade and Investment has issued a strong caution against companies illegibly bringing in Nvidia chips and AI chips for Large Language Models training in Malaysia.
This comes after a WSJ media report highlighted that a Chinese company with local registration brought terabytes of data in hard drives to use of servers equipped with Nvidia chips and AI chips in Large Language Models (LLM) training in the country.
While the ministry said it is still in the process of verifying the matter with relevant agencies if any domestic law or regulation has been breached. MITI added that servers using Nvidia chips and AI chips are not classified as controlled goods under the Malaysian Strategic Trade Act 2010 (STA 2010). However, that Malaysia will cooperate with any government that requires assistance in monitoring trade in sensitive goods under the export control of their respective countries.
The ministry further state that businesses including data centres operating in Malaysia are free to make their own commercial
decisions, provided they operate within the scope of Malaysian laws and regulations. The development and regulation of the Malaysian data centre industry and ecosystem is also actively and jointly managed by MITI and the Ministry of Digital through the Data Centre Task Force.
MITI said it remains committed to facilitating legitimate trade and fostering a secure and responsible investment and trade environment, ensuring that all technology-related investments and trade align with international best practices as well as with multilaterally agreed commitments.
“Malaysia also remains committed to upholding international trade regulations and ensuring full compliance with global export control measures. MITI will always act firmly against any company operating in Malaysia, including those involved in semiconductor and AI industries, that violates Malaysian and international trading regulations’ the statement wrote.
Companies operating here have been advised to adhere to other countries’ unilateral export controls which apply to their international business activities to avoid any secondary sanctions on their businesses.
