KUALA LUMPUR: The National Artificial Intelligence Office (NAIO) will be institutionalised on July 28 as the agency tasked with developing policies surrounding the governance of artificial intelligence in Malaysia.
Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo said NAIO, launched in December 2024, was an agency under incubation at MyDigital Corporation.
"It is now ready to be institutionalised with a launch on July 28. The Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) has given us the date. That will be the institution that looks toward policies surrounding AI. It also looks at governance around AI and basically looks at ecosystem including people in Malaysia who can actually build AI," he said during the inauguration of the Digital Realty Cyberjaya-based data centre campus here today (June 8).
Currently, Gobind said there is a department tasked with drafting standards on AI.
"We're also looking at a body to advise us on regulations, which means it may need some legislations to support that. Ultimately, the question is on whether you want to build statutory provisions to deal with AI," he said.
Gobind added that NAIO will be the agency driving the AI Nation 2030 vision forward.
"We are working hard to get it done as quickly as possible. You know, some of these things take time," he added.
As technology evolves at a rapid pace, Gobind said he also wants to avoid building a structure that is "too rigid".
"You want to build something that is going to evolve with the changes that you see in technology.
"This is also reason why NAIO is going to be institutionalised. It's really about how we can bring together a group of experts who can look into challenges that we're going to face in the future, and how we can build guardrails around that so we can be prepared for it when we get there," he said.
The Digital Ministry is also looking to introduce the Data Commission to oversee data governance in Q4, with Gobind saying that they are still in the process of "looking at statutory requirements around it".
