KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian integrated circuit (IC) design company Oppstar Bhd
is collaborating with Japan-based artificial intelligence (AI) solutions provider, Tokyo Artisan Intelligence Co Ltd (TAI), to develop a reconfigurable AI chip.
This marks Malaysia’s shift into higher-value semiconductor activities beyond traditional assembly and testing.
The collaboration combines TAI’s AI systems expertise with Oppstar’s semiconductor design capabilities to develop chips tailored for AI-driven applications, such as utilising image processing in robotics and railway safety monitoring systems.
Oppstar co-chief executive officer Ng Meng Thai said the collaboration reflects Malaysia’s increasing capability in advanced semiconductor front-end activities, particularly in chip design and AI-focused applications.
“This is actually a very exciting collaboration because both companies complement each other. TAI has expertise in developing AI systems and AI solutions, while Oppstar is designing and producing the customised reconfigurable AI chip,” he told Bernama in an interview recently.
He said the project involved a full turnkey development process covering chip design, package design, post-silicon validation and outsourced semiconductor assembly and test enablement.
Ng said such advanced semiconductor work has typically been dominated by multinational corporations. “For a local fabless chip design firm like Oppstar, this is an important step into more complex and higher-value chip development,” he said.
