워싱턴이 제한된 반도체 기술 조달에 경고문을 발출한 후, 말레이시아 정부 기관들은 국가 AI 이니셔티브를 위해 화웨이 가속기를 평가 중이다.

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia is leaning toward relying on Huawei Technologies’ artificial intelligence chips to power its sovereign AI initiatives, marking a potential major victory for Chinese AI technology amid strong opposition from President Donald Trump’s administration.

The Southeast Asian nation is seriously evaluating Huawei’s AI hardware as the backbone of a RM2 billion (US$494 million) initiative designed to increase national data sovereignty, according to individuals familiar with the matter. The exact volume of chips Malaysia intends to purchase remains unclear, these sources said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to speak publicly.

Huawei has been actively improving its AI chip performance despite years of U.S. restrictions limiting access to advanced foreign manufacturing equipment. While its accelerators still lag significantly behind those offered by Nvidia Corp., the Shenzhen-based company’s improving manufacturing prospects have driven it to seek a foothold in global data centre markets spanning Southeast Asia to the Middle East.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has previously stated that his country refuses to remain merely a consumer of overseas-developed technology. Beyond potential Huawei infrastructure, Anwar’s administration is urging domestic telecommunications firms to develop comprehensive AI frameworks through partnerships with international companies.

Should Malaysia proceed with Huawei chips, it would represent the first known case of a foreign government formally selecting Chinese AI accelerators over American alternatives. Such a decision would effectively challenge Washington’s push to dominate global AI infrastructure, directly contradicting warnings issued by Trump administration officials last year against purchasing the specific Huawei hardware under consideration. Meanwhile, Huawei is also competing to construct an AI data centre for the Egyptian government, prompting the Trump administration to prepare a counterproposal.

The Prime Minister’s Office, which also oversees the National Security Council, declined to comment, as did Malaysia’s Ministry of Digital. Huawei representatives similarly did not respond to requests for comment. According to one individual familiar with discussions within Anwar’s administration, the Malaysian government considers any decision regarding this procurement strictly a commercial matter.

The specific chips under evaluation are Huawei’s flagship Ascend 910C model, rather than the more advanced Ascend 950 series, which remains in limited production, according to the aforementioned sources. Last year, the Trump administration explicitly warned that deploying Ascend 910C chips could breach U.S. export regulations. Broadly, Washington has been advocating for global adoption of American AI hardware to prevent China from dominating AI data centres in the same manner it previously dominated telecommunications. (Bloomberg)