Malaysia tightens chip-smuggling safeguards with Singapore and US
The trade ministry is checking whether imported chips were subsequently exported legally, while clarifying that monitoring visits do not clear companies of wrongdoing.
Malaysia is coordinating with Singapore and the United States to strengthen measures against chip smuggling, its Investment, Trade and Industry Ministry said on Nov 13. The cooperation comes as Malaysia anticipates American restrictions on high-performance artificial intelligence chips and remote computing arrangements involving Chinese firms.
The ministry said it was checking with customs officials whether chips imported into Malaysia had subsequently been sent abroad and whether any such shipments complied with the law.
It also rejected suggestions that it had cleared Singapore-based cloud computing company Megaspeed or its Malaysian subsidiary, Speedmatrix, of wrongdoing. Visits to data centres hosting Speedmatrix were routine monitoring and did not constitute clearance, the ministry said.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Johari Ghani had said on Nov 10 that Speedmatrix was not being investigated because there was no credible evidence or formal request from a foreign authority. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Nov 13 that neither Singapore nor the US had submitted a formal request, but Malaysia would cooperate.
Malaysia requires no licence for AI chip imports. Since July 2025, however, permits have been required for shipments of US AI chips leaving the country.
Banking executives told The Straits Times that about half of financing deals for planned Malaysian data centres had been put on hold. They expected delays of up to six months while awaiting clarity from Washington. Approved data centre investments reached RM95.8 billion in the first half of 2026, representing 43.9 per cent of all approved investments.
