© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A view of a Nvidia logo at their headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan May 31, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo
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By Rozanna Latiff and Fanny Potkin
KUALA LUMPUR -Malaysian conglomerate YTL’s utilities unit said on Friday it would partner with U.S technology giant Nvidia to develop artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in the Southeast Asian country.
The first phase is expected to be operational by mid-2024, YTL Power International said in a statement.
Reuters exclusively reported earlier on Friday, citing sources, that Nvidia (NASDAQ:) and YTL were in advanced talks to partner over AI infrastructure, with the project to be hosted at a data centre in the southern state of Johor.
Under the deal, the companies will collaborate on building Malaysia’s fastest supercomputers using Nvidia AI chips and with YTL Power International also utilising Nvidia’s AI cloud computing platform to build a large language model in Malay, YTL Power said.
The announcement confirmed the project would be hosted at YTL’s data centre park in Kulai, Johor.
The partnership is set to strengthen Southeast Asia’s fast-growing AI ecosystem as well as Malaysia’s ambitions as a semiconductor manufacturing power. The country has seen rising multi-billion dollar investments from global semiconductor players in recent years, including from Intel (NASDAQ:) and Infineon (OTC:).
“Malaysia is an important hub for Southeast Asia computing infrastructure, which requires access to land, facilities and power, and YTL could play a great role in that,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told reporters earlier in the day, without directly confirming the deal.
