Update (7:18 PM, 8 December 2023): It turns out that the rumour was indeed true. Jen-Hsun’s meeting with the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, and Dato’ Yeoh Seok Hong, Managing Director of YTL Power. “We are pleased to announce that YTL Power International Berhad is collaborating with NVIDIA to build AI infrastructure that will bring the fastest supercomputers to Malaysia by the middle of 2024. This collaboration will accelerate the country’s advancement towards being a top AI nation.”
“This collaboration with NVIDIA comes at an opportune time. In the 12 months since the launch of ChatGPT, we have seen how AI is changing the way we work, live, and learn. Having our own supercomputing infrastructure and the ability to train talent locally will accelerate Malaysia’s advancement towards being a top AI nation. This will be the foundation for a digital economy powered by innovative solutions and applications built on our very own sovereign LLM,” said Dato’ Yeoh Seok Hong, Managing Director of YTL Power International. “This collaboration with NVIDIA is poised to bring many benefits to the nation. Our green data centres and low energy solutions are an ideal fit to be used with their high-performance supercomputers. We are excited to begin this journey to bring our nation to the forefront of AI development.”
Original article below:
NVIDIA’s CEO and founder, Jen-Hsun Huang, had reportedly met up with folks at YTL Corp, in order to talk about a potential deal and partnership to build a GPU-based datacentre in the country. Sources close to Reuters brought up the alleged existence of said deal earlier today, during a roundtable meeting with member of the press and media to discuss broadly the subject of AI and its role in the future.
Jen-Hsun neither confirmed nor denied if such a meeting or talk occurred but did suggest that “terrific companies” like YTL and Petronas would be excellent partners to build such facilities with. “YTL is an extraordinary company, with incredible leadership and legacy. They understand data centre infrastructure. It would be our privilege to work with them”.
The idea of NVIDIA building a datacentre here in Malaysia, and with the help of YTL isn’t that farfetched: The latter previously announced that it wanted to develop and build a datacentre park, in the state of Johor. In total, the company plans to pour RM15 billion into the project, over the course of seven years, with RM1.5 billion expected to be invested within the first phase of the project.
This also wouldn’t the first time NVIDIA has partnered up with YTL, if the rumours turn out to be true. Some of you may know that earlier this year, both companies announced a collaboration that allowed YES 5G to be the exclusive host of the GPU brand’s GeForce Now cloud gaming and streaming service.
Also, in keeping in line with our role as a lifestyle technology site, we did ask whether or not NVIDIA will have a hand in the development of Nintendo’s next-generation Switch console, seeing how he very briefly mentioned that the GPU brand enjoyed working with the game brand. Naturally, he neither confirmed nor denied that the company was, but did allude to the fact that he “enjoys” working with them.
(Additional sources: The Edge)
