Malaysia's Communications Ministry launched on Monday what it's billing as a "Strategic Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure" – a sovereign, full-stack AI ecosystem powered by Huawei GPUs that also marks the first national deployment of Chinese large language model (LLM) DeepSeek outside of China.
According to the ministry, the initial AI infrastructure features a generative AI cloud environment run by Malaysian firm Skyvast Cloud, powered by an AlterMatic DT250 AI Server with eight Huawei Ascend GPUs.
At the launch event on Monday, Skyvast and Chinese tech firm Leadyo revealed plans to deploy 3,000 advanced GPUs across multiple infrastructure zones by 2026 as Malaysia’s AI ecosystem of partners grows.
Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said the AI infrastructure offers 20% higher performance and 30% energy savings compared to industry peers. It also hosts the DeepSeek open-source LLM, which she said makes it the first national-scale sovereign LLM deployed in Malaysia, and the first such for DeepSeek outside of its native China, according to the Bernama news agency.
It's also the first deployment of Huawei’s Ascend chips and servers outside of China as part of an MoU signed by Huawei and Skyvast last month.
Deputy Minister Teo said establishing a sovereign AI infrastructure is a major step in Malaysia’s AI development, as using domestic servers and localising LLMs like DeepSeek means data will be processed locally, which she said will safeguard user privacy and strengthen data security.
“Now it's no longer like the cloud or the data centre is overseas, but it's now purely in Malaysia – [the] server [is] also in Malaysia, managed by Malaysia, and the AI agents will also be developed by Malaysians,” Bernama quoted Teo as saying.
Skyvast will use the AI infrastructure to offer AI-as-a-service and GPU-as-a-service (GPUaaS) to government agencies, businesses and universities, enabling them to improve services, boost productivity and drive innovation. Early adopters include the Prime Minister's Office, the Ministry of Communications, Permodalan Negeri Selangor, Cyberview and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, the report said.
Meanwhile, the report added, the AI infrastructure launch event also included the launch of the Malaysia-China Trusted Data Zone, billed as the first bilateral corridor linking Cyberjaya with the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Lin-gang Special Area.
The zone – operated by Skyvast Data on the Malaysian side and Shanghai International Data Port on the China side – is intended to enable seamless cross-border AI development through infrastructure, joint innovation platforms and digital capability integration.
