Overview
- Malaysian officials are actively evaluating Huawei’s Ascend 910C accelerators to power a roughly 2 billion ringgit sovereign AI initiative, with Telekom Malaysia named as the project operator.
- Huawei has deepened its footprint through an April 2026 AI Lab in Kuala Lumpur and a July 2026 memorandum of understanding with the National Cyber Security Agency that formalizes technical cooperation.
- The Malaysian government publicly maintains a multi‑vendor policy that allows both Chinese and U.S. suppliers even as it builds a National AI Office to coordinate the program.
- U.S. officials have warned that using the Ascend 910C could raise export‑control and national‑security concerns and have raised those worries directly with Malaysian counterparts.
- If Malaysia proceeds with Huawei chips, the choice could reshape regional supply ties, affect foreign tech investment, and determine how Malaysia protects sensitive government and intelligence data.