Malaysia Weighs Huawei Chips for RM2 Billion Sovereign AI Plan
Malaysia is developing a RM2 billion sovereign artificial intelligence program aimed at keeping government and sensitive data under domestic jurisdiction. The existing plan relies on Nvidia processors, but concerns that the U.S. CLOUD Act could expose data held by American technology providers have turned the procurement into a broader test of data sovereignty, supply-chain control and geopolitical alignment.
As of Sept. 9, 2026, Malaysia was evaluating Huawei’s Ascend 910C chips as a replacement for the Nvidia-based system, with no final award date announced. Approval would potentially make it the first government-level AI infrastructure project to switch from U.S. to Chinese processors. The move could, however, run into U.S. export controls and expose the project to sanctions, supply disruptions and long-term maintenance risks.
All Coverage
2 original reportsThe Backstory
The history behind this eventChina Adds Domestic AI Chips to Official Procurement List, Accelerating Shift Away From Nvidia
After U.S. export controls restricted China’s access to advanced AI chips from Nvidia and other suppliers, Beijing expanded its Xinchuang domestic-substitution initiative from operating systems and servers to AI computing power. Official certification can serve as a basis for procurement by government agencies and state-owned enterprises, with implications for the data-center supply chain. Morgan Stanley estimates that China’s AI chip market will reach $67 billion in 2030, with domestic suppliers able to meet about 76% of demand.
On May 26, 2026, the China Information Technology Security Evaluation Center and the National Secrecy Science and Technology Evaluation Center issued Announcement No. 2, designating nine AI training and inference chips as Level I secure and reliable products for the first time. The certifications are valid for three years. The list includes Huawei’s Ascend 310 and 910, Alibaba T-Head’s Zhenwu M530 and M890, and one chip each from Biren Technology, Hygon, Iluvatar CoreX, MetaX and Moore Threads, covering seven vendors in total.
Subscribe to Mark Radar Weekly
Every Friday, the week's strongest signals in your inbox. Unsubscribe anytime.
If you search news on Google, you can set Mark Radar as a preferred source—our coverage will show up more often in your results. Set as preferred source on Google →