YTL to Advance AI Development in Malaysia in Collaboration with NVIDIA

Kuala Lumpur, December 8, 2023

YTL Power International Berhad (YTL) today announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to build AI infrastructure that will bring the fastest supercomputers to Malaysia by the middle of 2024. 

The announcement was made today in a meeting between Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim. Also present were Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) and Dato’ Yeoh Seok Hong, Managing Director of YTL Power International Berhad.

Tengku Zafrul, speaking after the visit, said, “We welcome partnerships such as the one between YTL and NVIDIA, exactly the kind of strategic collaborations targeted by our New Industrial Master Plan 2030. By offering supercomputing cloud services and leveraging AI to power innovations, such partnerships enhance our economic complexity, paving the way for us to become a high technology and high-income nation while further positioning Malaysia as a top investment destination.” 

YTL will deploy NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs, which power today’s most advanced AI data centres, and use NVIDIA AI Enterprise software to streamline production AI. NVIDIA AI Enterprise includes NVIDIA NeMo, an end-to-end, cloud-native framework for building, customising, and deploying generative AI models from anywhere.

NVIDIA H100 GPUs deliver industry-leading generative AI and can speed up large language models (LLMs) by an incredible 30X compared with the previous-generation GPUs. 

The AI infrastructure will be hosted in the YTL Green Data Center Park in Kulai, Johor, a 500 MW facility developed by YTL that will be uniquely powered by an equivalent amount of on-site solar energy. YTL Communications Sdn Bhd, the telecommunications subsidiary of YTL, will own and manage the AI infrastructure that will provide AI computing services to the nation. YTL Communications owns and operates a national mobile network and was the first to offer 4G and 5G services in the country under its “Yes” brand.

The AI infrastructure will provide the foundation for scientific research and the development of solutions and applications that will accelerate Malaysia’s progress towards becoming an AI nation. 

YTL will not only provide green, energy-efficient AI infrastructure to scientists, developers, and startups across the nation, it will also create AI-specific applications and services for its customers. YTL plans to use NVIDIA NeMo to customise and deploy a Malay language foundation model that will be sensitive to Malaysia’s multi-cultural heritage.

“This collaboration with NVIDIA comes at an opportune time. In the 12 months since the launch of ChatGPT, we have seen how AI is changing the way we work, live, and learn. Having our own supercomputing infrastructure and the ability to train talent locally will accelerate Malaysia’s advancement towards being a top AI nation. This will be the foundation for a digital economy powered by innovative solutions and applications built on our very own sovereign LLM,” said Dato’ Yeoh Seok Hong, Managing Director of YTL Power International. “This collaboration with NVIDIA is poised to bring many benefits to the nation. Our green data centres and low energy solutions are an ideal fit to be used with their high-performance supercomputers. We are excited to begin this journey to bring our nation to the forefront of AI development.”

“Malaysia is embracing AI to enhance jobs, drive competitiveness, and supercharge innovation,” said Raymond Teh, Senior Vice President of the Asia-Pacific region at NVIDIA. “This collaboration will help deliver advanced AI computing infrastructure to enable Malaysia to build its own LLMs and power the country’s next wave of generative AI applications.”

Datuk Wira Arham Abdul Rahman, the CEO of Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), was also present to witness the occasion and said that ''MIDA applauds the unwavering commitment of YTL to embrace and invest in cutting-edge technology, through partnership with NVIDIA. In an era fuelled by technological advancements, it is truly commendable to witness YTL's pivotal role in developing a robust data infrastructure. This initiative not only underscores YTL's dedication to innovation, but more importantly, contributes towards advancing our local business ecosystem technologically.''

The YTL Group’s deep experience and expertise in infrastructure development will enable the rapid rollout of AI data centres, with the first phase expected to be operational by mid-2024.