Malaysia government not involved in local AI project involving Huawei chips

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Reuters) - Malaysia's government did not develop, coordinate or endorse an artificial intelligence project involving a local company and Huawei Technologies, its trade ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, backtracking on a previous announcement.

The statement followed local media reports on Monday that a Malaysian company, Skyvast Corporation, would deploy Huawei's Ascend chips for the project.

The ministry said it wanted "to clarify that the said initiative was not developed, endorsed, or coordinated by the Government of Malaysia, nor does it form part of any Government-to-Government agreement or nationally mandated technology programme."

Huawei told Reuters that it has not sold any Ascend chips in Malaysia, and the Malaysian government has not purchased any of those chips from them. Huawei developed the Ascend chips after it was blocked by the U.S. government from receiving advanced semiconductors. The chips have since become an alternative for Chinese firms after Washington moved to further curb sales of high-end chips by top AI chip maker Nvidia NVDA.O to China. The Trade Ministry added that the country remains committed to fully complying with all applicable export control laws, national security directives, and emerging guidance from global regulatory authorities. Skyvast did not immediately respond to a request for comment.