Malaysia today launched the ASEAN AI Malaysia Summit 2025 (AAIMS25), a regional gathering marking a major step in Southeast Asia’s digital journey.
Held under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship and hosted by the Ministry of Digital with support from the National Artificial Intelligence Office (NAIO) and MyDIGITAL Corporation, the two-day summit convenes more than 1,500 participants from across ASEAN at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC).
Themed ‘Driving Sustainable & Inclusive AI Development in ASEAN’, the summit brings together ASEAN ministers, regional policymakers, global technology leaders, entrepreneurs, youth changemakers, researchers, and civil society groups to advance a shared vision for AI that empowers people, builds trust, and uplifts communities.
The programme includes Ministerial Roundtables, dynamic panel discussions, dialogue-driven forums and interactive showcases, including the ASEAN AI Trade Show and the Malaysia AI Super Booth.
Malaysia’s leadership on AI: A vision for the rakyat and the region
In his keynote address, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar bin Ibrahim reaffirmed Malaysia’s commitment to shaping AI in line with regional values of equity, justice, and dignity, positioning AI not merely as a technological tool, but as a transformative force for inclusive growth.
The Prime Minister also highlighted ILMU, Malaysia’s first fully homegrown large language model, developed by YTL AI Labs in partnership with Universiti Malaya.
Built entirely by Malaysians, ILMU is trained with local expertise, cultural depth, and linguistic nuance, ensuring it resonates with and respects Malaysia’s diverse fabric. Designed to address real needs in education, healthcare, and public services, ILMU exemplifies how innovation can be rooted in identity and purpose.
Upcoming highlight: Launch of National Cloud Policy
A major highlight on Day 2 of the summit will be the official launch of the National Cloud Computing Policy (NCCP) by the Ministry of Digital, a milestone in Malaysia’s drive towards a sustainable, and secure digital ecosystem.
Championing a Cloud-First future, the NCCP aims to fuel innovation, boost efficiency, and strengthen resilience across the nation’s digital economy. The launch takes place on 13 August 2025 at 8:30 AM at MITEC, Kuala Lumpur.
Advancing ASEAN collaboration through strategic announcements
AAIMS25 also served as a launchpad for a series of high-impact announcements, each aimed at accelerating regional AI collaboration, strengthening talent pipelines, and fostering responsible, inclusive innovation across Southeast Asia.
The ASEAN Foundation, with support from Google, today launched AI Class ASEAN, a free learning platform to equip communities with the skills to thrive in the AI era. By training 800,000 local leaders across all ten ASEAN Member States, the programme will empower 5.5 million people, including 400,000 Malaysians, with practical AI literacy.
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) introduced the AMD Developer Cloud to accelerate AI research and innovation in Malaysia. As part of the initiative, AMD is offering 100,000 GPU hours to Malaysian researchers and developers, providing access to its world-class CPUs, GPUs and open ROCm platform.
MaiStorage, a subsidiary of Phison, is making AI affordable and accessible for all with its new AI computing-at-the-edge solution. Using aiDAPTIV+, Intel® Core® Ultra Processors, and Intel® Arc™ Graphics, the solution delivers AI power to laptops, PCs, and devices that schools, SMEs, and communities can use, without expensive servers or complex cloud systems
Huawei Technologies launched the APAC AI Ecosystem Initiative, a three-year plan to make Malaysia a regional hub for AI excellence. The programme will train 30,000 AI talents and support 200 local partners in creating innovative solutions.
Strategic collaboration at the heart
AAIMS25 was made possible through the shared commitment of key collaborators. YTL Power served as Title Sponsor, Huawei as Innovation Partner, Inspur and VCI Global Limited as Platinum Partners, and TM as Strategic Partner.
The organisers also acknowledged the contributions of other supporting partners whose expertise and resources helped shape the summit’s success.
-NIAGATIMES
