Malaysia Invests $250 Million in Arm Chip Designs to Boost Local Manufacturing

Malaysia will invest $250 million over the next decade to acquire chip design plans from Arm Holdings. The aim is to bolster local manufacturing capabilities in the semiconductor industry. Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli announced that the government will pay Arm for intellectual property, including blueprints for seven high-end chip designs. This initiative is part of Malaysia's strategy to produce its own graphics processing unit chips within the next five to ten years, driven by growing demand for AI and data centers. The deal is expected to foster the growth of domestic chip companies, with the goal of creating ten local firms each generating $1.5 to $2 billion in annual revenue. Malaysia has seen significant digital investments from tech giants since 2023, particularly in cloud services and data centers.