Audit companies that import high-end chips, says former deputy minister

 Ong Kian Ming said the government could compare companies’ chip import records with the number of chips installed in their servers.

Tighter enforcement would help reassure the US that Malaysia was taking steps to prevent high-end chips from being routed to China, a former deputy minister said. (Nvidia pic)

PETALING JAYA:

A former deputy minister had called for stronger government action to prevent high-end AI chips from being routed through Malaysia to China, by auditing companies suspected of transhipping high-end chips from Singapore.

Ong Kian Ming. a former deputy minister for international trade and investment. said the ministry could check how many chips had been imported and how many were installed in the companies’ servers.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult to check companies suspected of transshipping these chips,” he said in the Keluar Sekejap podcast. “You can check how many high-end graphics processing units they brought into Malaysia, mostly from Singapore, and then see how many are installed in their servers.”

Ong said tighter enforcement would help reassure the US that Malaysia was taking steps to prevent high-end chips from being routed to China.

Ong was discussing reports of the possible re-export of Nvidia chips involving Speedmatrix Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian subsidiary of Singapore-based cloud computing firm Megaspeed International.

Investment, trade and industry minister Johari Ghani previously said the government was ready to facilitate an investigation into Speedmatrix upon receiving a formal request, but had yet to receive one.

The Strategic Trade Act 2010 regulates the export, transshipment and transit of strategic items, including sensitive technology and materials that could be used in terrorism, nuclear proliferation and the development of weapons of mass destruction.

In July last year, Miti began requiring strategic trade permits for the export, transshipment and transit of high-performance US-made AI chips.

Risks for Malaysian data centres

Ong said demand for Nvidia chips could fall sharply if the United States adopts a new law that would regulate remote, cloud-based access to restricted technology.

The impact could extend to data centres already operating in Malaysia and those approved for construction, he said.

Fellow panellist and Muda deputy president Zaidel Baharuddin said Malaysian companies that had built facilities with cloud-based services could also struggle to sell them if the AI bubble popped. - FMT