KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is preparing for the potential impact of the United States' plans to impose new restrictions on artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports, says Chang Li Kang.
The Science, Technology and Innovation Minister warned that the measures, if implemented, would affect not only Malaysia but the global community as well.
"If the restriction is implemented, it will impact Malaysia, especially as we are looking to grow AI in a big way. Without AI chips, we will have problems.
"But as of now, everything is still hearsay," he stated after launching the TalentBridge Program and Teater LogTech Lab at Universiti Malaya (UM) on Monday (Jan 13).
Chang noted that there are currently no official details on the matter.
"We do not know what kind of categories and what countries are in which categories," he said.
The US, according to media reports, plans to further restrict AI chip exports to curb their use in data centres globally, targeting both countries and companies.
Under the new restrictions, US-based firms can apply for blanket permission to ship chips to data centres in most parts of the world, provided that no more than a quarter of their total computing power is located outside of Tier 1 countries, and no more than 7% in any one Tier 2 country.
Bloomberg News reported on Thursday (Jan 9) that new export regulations could be announced soon, adding that a group of US adversaries would effectively be blocked from importing these chips, while the majority of the world would face limits on the total computing power allowed per country.
Chang mentioned that "of course, we heard 85% of the countries are in Tier 2, which is not the most permissive but also not the most restrictive."
He also noted that several ministries are discussing precautionary measures in response to the potential US move.
"We are in discussions with the Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry as well as other ministries, just to take precautionary steps," he said.
The Information Technology Industry Council, representing companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta, has stated that the rule would place arbitrary constraints on US companies' ability to sell computing systems overseas, potentially ceding the global market to competitors.
