AI in Malaysia: the one-page picture

A national AI agency, a 2030 plan, voluntary ethics guidance and a law on the way. 38% of Malaysian businesses now use AI, but few use it deeply.

Who runs it: the National AI Office (NAIO), launched on 12 Dec 2024, became AI Malaysia Berhad on 28 Jul 2026, under the Ministry of Digital. It also hosts the Malaysia AI Safety Institute (MY-AISafe).

The plan: the National AI Action Plan 2026-2030 (AI Nation 2030) aims for Malaysia to be in the top 10 of recognised global AI indices, with up to 1.2 percentage points of extra GDP growth and up to 300,000 new jobs attributable to AI by 2030.

The rules: the National Guidelines on AI Governance and Ethics (AIGE, 2024) set seven voluntary principles: fairness; reliability, safety and control; privacy and security; inclusiveness; transparency; accountability; and human benefit. AI Malaysia has since published a voluntary AI Code of Ethics (AICE) and a Boardroom Primer for directors. A risk-based AI Governance Bill is expected in early 2027.

Where businesses are: an AWS study of 1,000 Malaysian business leaders found 38% consistently use at least one AI tool, up from 27% a year earlier. But 67% of adopters mainly use basic tools such as public chatbots, only 19% have a formal plan to scale AI across functions, and 53% name workforce skills as a barrier. That gap is exactly why this club exists.

Local models: YTL AI Labs' ILMU is a Malaysian-built model that YTL says leads global models on a Malay-language benchmark.

Sources

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