Overview

• Malaysia has formed a task force led by trade and digital ministers to strengthen regulations on semiconductor exports and its data center industry.
• The U.S. has requested Malaysia to track every Nvidia chip shipment to ensure compliance with export controls and prevent diversion to unauthorized destinations, particularly China.
• Singapore recently arrested nine individuals, with three charged in a $390 million fraud case involving the suspected illegal sale of Nvidia chips to China via Malaysia.
• Malaysia has become a growing hub for data centers, attracting over $25 billion in investments from companies like Nvidia, Microsoft, and ByteDance in the past 18 months.
• The U.S. export controls, introduced in late 2024, aim to limit China's access to advanced Nvidia GPUs, which could be used for AI and military applications.