KUALA LUMPUR: Masayoshi Son of SoftBank Group Corp has chosen locations in Malaysia for US$50bil in technology investments, the country’s prime minister says, an outlay that would accelerate the billionaire’s global bet on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he had a videoconference with Son last Tuesday, during which the Japanese tech investor said he had picked regions in the South-East Asian country for projects including data centres.
SoftBank representatives didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.
“He said he had chosen Sarawak – Kuching – and Peninsular Malaysia to expand investment in what would be among the largest investments in the region, worth US$50bil,” Anwar said in a speech in Melaka last Saturday.
“In what areas? AI, new technology and data centres.”
A push in Malaysia would expand Son’s reach in South-East Asia, a region which is emerging as a key hub for AI infrastructure such as data centres. SoftBank is already working on a US$500bil data centre-focused project in Ohio, among the largest in the world, and a project in France that would cost as much as US$84bil. — Bloomberg
