Building Malaysia’s silicon capabilities for the AI era

Arm remains committed to domestic talent development through collaboration with government authorities and educational institutions on training and education initiatives.

Building on its strengths in outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (Osat) and manufacturing, the nation is developing capabilities in integrated circuit (IC) design, advanced silicon and artificial intelligence (AI).

Leading global compute platform company Arm Holdings' strategic partnership with Malaysia, established last March, reflected a broader industry shift.

Arm’s executive vice president and chief commercial officer Will Abbey noted that semiconductors had become a critical national-level strategy as countries sought to develop more domestic technology capabilities.

The partnership combines access to technology with talent development as Malaysia seeks to strengthen its IC design industry.

This year, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) identified IC design, advanced packaging and innovation as priorities for the semiconductor industry, alongside talent development and technology adoption.

Its latest investment update also highlighted a shift toward front-end design and equipment as the National Semiconductor Strategy moves into implementation.

Building next-gen silicon design capabilities

Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir highlighted the broader economic potential of the Arm partnership, extending beyond locally developed chips to skilled engineering jobs, domestic manufacturing and stronger supply-chain linkages.

The company’s involvement also spans technology access, talent development and connections to its global network of partners, developers and potential customers.

Arm supports local companies, offering multiple ways to build custom silicon, from world-leading Arm IP through Arm Flexible Access to configuring and implementing integrated Arm Compute Subsystems (CSS). Each provides a different starting point for partner-led innovation.

Several local companies have also been awarded access to these programmes.

Beyond IP access, chip designers also face challenges in securing complementary technologies, investment and customers.

Arm recently hosted representatives from GreatASIC, Oppstar, AlphaSwift and Malaysia Advanced Packaging Consortium (MAPC) at its Malaysia office to explore potential industry collaboration and business opportunities.

Education and talent development are another focus as Arm collaborates with the government and conducts quarterly training programmes to support students, academia and industry in adopting and developing with Arm technology, with an initial cohort drawing participants from more than 40 universities and 80 companies.

Its academic activities span Johor, Penang and Selangor. At Monash University Malaysia, Arm-based course content, hands-on IC design and student mini-projects provide practical experience in designing and building with the company’s technology, with further curriculum integration under consideration.

Arm has also engaged with government agencies and industry stakeholders. In Penang, a briefing with InvestPenang, the Economy Ministry and Mida covered Arm technology, IC design enablement and Malaysia’s semiconductor priorities.

Broader discussions have explored opportunities to connect Malaysian companies with global technology partners and markets, as well as the industry's readiness for emerging computing demands.

(From left) Mida chief executive officer Datuk Sikh Shamsul Ibrahim, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani and Arm’s sovereign business development head Gary Lu.

Connecting Malaysian innovation to the AI era

As AI evolves from generating content to intelligent systems that reason, coordinate and act, the next generation of computing is becoming a systems challenge.

Increasingly diverse workloads across cloud, edge and the physical world are creating new opportunities for specialised silicon, software and system-level innovation.

Arm provides the foundational compute platform for this transition, enabling Malaysian companies to develop technologies for emerging AI workloads while building on a global software ecosystem.

This shift opens opportunities to develop differentiated silicon, systems and software.

Arm’s compute platform spans cloud, edge and physical AI, offering development paths from IP and compute subsystems to production-ready silicon.

The company’s global ecosystem offers further connections. Arm's software ecosystem supports more than 22 million developers worldwide, with established operating systems, frameworks, runtimes and tools that help companies develop, optimise and deploy software across Arm-based computing platforms.

For Malaysian innovators, this provides a software foundation alongside access to global technology partners and markets.

Strengthening local capability while preserving choice

As AI becomes increasingly strategic to economies and critical infrastructure, sovereign AI is gaining traction among governments worldwide.

Abbey defines it as “a nation’s ability to develop, deploy and govern a trusted AI ecosystem in line with its own priorities.”

Developing domestic capabilities does not have to come at the expense of global connectivity.

Malaysia can strengthen its design expertise and develop local silicon and IP while maintaining access to international technology and partners.

This approach was reflected at UK-South-East Asia Tech Week 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, where government and industry representatives discussed trusted AI, digital infrastructure and sustainable growth.

Arm contributed perspectives on advanced semiconductor design and energy-efficient computing.

As AI infrastructure expands, performance and efficiency are becoming critical to how intelligence scales, as operating costs place real constraints on computing capacity.

Arm combines high performance with industry-leading power efficiency, helping organisations deploy demanding AI workloads within those constraints, which offers Malaysia greater flexibility to develop AI capabilities aligned with national priorities.

Turning capability into global opportunity

Malaysia’s next challenge is to translate its growing semiconductor capabilities into locally developed technologies that can compete in global markets.

As agentic AI advances, stronger design expertise, access to global computing technologies and the flexibility to innovate around national priorities could position Malaysian companies to play a greater role in next-generation computing.

Arm’s ongoing engagement with government, industry and academia provides opportunities to identify where its technology, expertise and global network can contribute to the nation’s semiconductor and AI development.

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Arm 将继续致力于通过与政府部门和教育机构合作开展培训和教育计划，培养国内人才。

凭借其在半导体外包组装和测试 (Osat) 以及制造方面的优势，该国正在发展集成电路 (IC) 设计、先进硅和人工智能 (AI) 方面的能力。

全球领先的计算平台公司 Arm Holdings 与马来西亚于去年 3 月建立的战略合作伙伴关系，反映了更广泛的行业转变。

Arm 执行副总裁兼首席商务官威尔·艾比指出，随着各国寻求发展更多国内技术能力，半导体已成为一项重要的国家级战略。

此次合作将技术获取与人才培养相结合，旨在帮助马来西亚加强其集成电路设计产业。

今年，马来西亚投资发展局（MIDA）将集成电路设计、先进封装和创新确定为半导体行业的优先事项，同时还将重点放在人才培养和技术应用上。

其最新的投资更新报告还强调，随着国家半导体战略进入实施阶段，投资重点将转向前端设计和设备。

构建下一代硅设计能力

经济部长阿克马尔·纳斯鲁拉·莫哈末·纳西尔强调了与 Arm 合作的更广泛的经济潜力，其影响不仅限于本地开发的芯片，还包括熟练的工程工作岗位、国内制造业和更强大的供应链联系。

该公司的参与范围还包括技术获取、人才培养以及与其全球合作伙伴、开发人员和潜在客户网络的联系。

Arm 为本地企业提供支持，通过多种方式构建定制芯片，从世界领先的 Arm IP 到 Arm Flexible Access，再到配置和实施集成式 Arm 计算子系统 (CSS)。每种方式都为合作伙伴主导的创新提供了不同的起点。

多家本地企业也获得了参与这些项目的资格。

除了知识产权获取之外，芯片设计人员在获得配套技术、投资和客户方面也面临着挑战。

Arm 最近在其马来西亚办事处接待了来自 GreatASIC、Oppstar、AlphaSwift 和马来西亚先进封装联盟 (MAPC) 的代表，探讨潜在的行业合作和商业机会。

教育和人才发展是另一个重点，Arm 与政府合作，每季度举办培训计划，以支持学生、学术界和产业界采用和开发 Arm 技术，首批学员来自 40 多所大学和 80 家公司。

其学术活动遍及柔佛、槟城和雪兰莪。在马来西亚莫纳什大学，基于Arm架构的课程内容、集成电路设计实践以及学生小型项目，为学生提供使用该公司技术进行设计和构建的实践经验，目前正在考虑进一步整合到课程体系中。

Arm公司也与政府机构和行业利益相关者进行了沟通。在槟城，Arm公司与槟城投资促进局（InvestPenang）、经济部和马来西亚工业发展局（MIDA）举行了一次简报会，内容涵盖Arm技术、集成电路设计赋能以及马来西亚半导体行业的优先事项。

更广泛的讨论探讨了将马来西亚公司与全球技术合作伙伴和市场联系起来的机会，以及该行业为应对新兴计算需求所做的准备。

（左起）Mida 首席执行官 Datuk Sikh Shamsul Ibrahim、投资、贸易和工业部长 Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani 以及 Arm 主权业务发展主管 Gary Lu。

将马来西亚创新与人工智能时代连接起来

随着人工智能从生成内容发展到能够推理、协调和行动的智能系统，下一代计算正成为一个系统挑战。

云端、边缘和物理世界中日益多样化的工作负载，为专用芯片、软件和系统级创新创造了新的机遇。

Arm 为这一转型提供了基础计算平台，使马来西亚公司能够在构建全球软件生态系统的同时，开发用于新兴人工智能工作负载的技术。

这一转变为开发差异化的芯片、系统和软件创造了机会。

Arm 的计算平台涵盖云、边缘和物理 AI，提供从 IP 和计算子系统到可投入生产的芯片的开发路径。

公司的全球生态系统提供了更多连接渠道。Arm 的软件生态系统为全球超过 2200 万开发者提供支持，拥有成熟的操作系统、框架、运行时和工具，帮助企业在基于 Arm 的计算平台上开发、优化和部署软件。

对于马来西亚的创新者而言，这不仅提供了软件基础，​​还提供了接触全球技术合作伙伴和市场的渠道。

在增强本地能力的同时保留选择权

随着人工智能对经济和关键基础设施的战略意义日益凸显，主权人工智能正在世界各国政府中获得越来越多的关注。

Abbey 将其定义为“一个国家根据自身优先事项开发、部署和管理可信赖的人工智能生态系统的能力”。

发展国内能力并不一定要以牺牲全球互联互通为代价。

马来西亚可以加强其设计专长，开发本地芯片和知识产权，同时保持与国际技术和合作伙伴的联系。

这种理念在吉隆坡举行的 2026 年英国-东南亚科技周上得到了体现，政府和行业代表在会上讨论了可信人工智能、数字基础设施和可持续增长。

Arm公司就先进半导体设计和节能计算提出了独到见解。

随着人工智能基础设施的扩展，性能和效率对于智能的扩展至关重要，因为运营成本对计算能力构成了真正的限制。

Arm 将高性能与业界领先的能效相结合，帮助企业在这些限制条件下部署要求苛刻的 AI 工作负载，这为马来西亚提供了更大的灵活性，使其能够开发符合国家优先事项的 AI 能力。

将能力转化为全球机遇

马来西亚面临的下一个挑战是将其不断增长的半导体能力转化为能够在国际市场上竞争的本土开发技术。

随着智能人工智能的发展，更强大的设计专业知识、获取全球计算技术的机会以及围绕国家优先事项进行创新的灵活性，可能会使马来西亚公司在下一代计算中发挥更大的作用。

Arm 与政府、行业和学术界的持续合作，为确定其技术、专业知识和全球网络可以为国家半导体和人工智能发展做出哪些贡献提供了机会。

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