By Ying Xian Wong
Malaysia said it is looking into media reports that a Chinese company in the country used servers equipped with Nvidia and artificial-intelligence chips to train large language models.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry is "in the process of verifying the matter with relevant agencies if any domestic law or regulation has been breached," it said in a statement Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Chinese engineers had bypassed U.S. chip curbs by flying into the Southeast Asian country with hard drives containing data to build AI models in Malaysian data centers that house servers with advanced Nvidia chips.
Malaysia allows data centers to make independent commercial decisions within legal boundaries, with oversight jointly managed by MITI and the Digital Ministry through the Data Center Task Force.
Servers using Nvidia and AI chips aren't classified as controlled items under Malaysian law, the Trade Ministry said. However, the country will cooperate with any government seeking assistance in monitoring trade involving sensitive goods subject to export-control laws, it said.
MITI said it will take firm action against any company, including those in the semiconductor and AI sectors, found to be violating Malaysian and international trade laws.
It stressed that Malaysia doesn't tolerate illicit trading activities nor attempts to circumvent export controls. It also reaffirmed its commitment to facilitating legitimate investment and trade in line with international best practices and multilateral obligations.
The ministry said that while Malaysia maintains a neutral stance on unilateral sanctions, companies operating in the country are advised to comply with applicable international export controls to avoid potential secondary sanctions.
Write to Ying Xian Wong at yingxian.wong@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-18-25 0745ET
