00:00Malaysia must do more than host data centres if it wants real control over its artificial intelligence future.
00:07Podcast host Sharil Handan said Malaysia needed to own more of its AI ecosystem
00:12and capture a greater share of the value created from its own markets and data.
00:17Speaking on the Karis and Silicon podcast with tech policy and security expert Elina Noor,
00:22Sharil said data centres, local language models and foreign investments
00:25could support digital sovereignty but would not guarantee control.
00:30Malaysia has become a major data centre destination with 144.4 billion ringgit in approved investments
00:36recorded between 2021 and mid-2025.
00:41But Sharil warned that the country should not confuse participation in the AI economy with ownership of it.
00:47He said Southeast Asia risked repeating an old pattern where the region provides land, energy, labour and data
00:54while others capture the most valuable parts of the technology chain.
00:58Elina said the region must stop competing mainly on cheap land, cheap energy, cheap water and cheap labour
01:05and should question whether every major technology investment should be accepted.
01:10Sharil said the real test was whether Malaysia could turn AI investment into lasting capability,
01:15ownership and bargaining power instead of merely supplying the physical foundations of the digital economy.
01:20Unjun Yang FMT
01:23Unjun Yang FMT
01:23Unjun YangT
01:23Unjun YangT
01:24Unjun YangT
