Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim says SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has chosen Malaysia for technology investments worth $50 billion, a plan that would rank among the largest the region has seen. The focus, Anwar said, is artificial intelligence, new technology and data centres.
Anwar disclosed the plan in a speech in Melaka on Saturday, saying he had discussed it with Son in a video call the previous Tuesday. Son had picked Sarawak, including its capital Kuching, and peninsular Malaysia as the locations for the investment, Anwar said, adding that it could bring new jobs, particularly for young Malaysians.
SoftBank has not confirmed the $50 billion figure. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and no timeline, funding structure or list of partners for the full plan has been announced. That gap matters: what has been described so far is a plan under discussion, not a signed commitment to spend $50 billion.
What the $50 billion would cover
According to Anwar, the investment would span AI, emerging technology and data centres across Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia. He described it as among the largest investments in the region, and framed it as a chance to deepen Malaysia's capabilities in AI, digitalisation and semiconductors alongside workforce training.
The scale is striking when set against Malaysia's recent data centre boom. The country recorded about $94 billion in data-centre-related investment from 2021 through the first half of 2026, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, with Amazon, Microsoft and Google among the hyperscalers already building there. A single $50 billion plan would equal more than half that six-year total.
What is actually signed so far
What SoftBank has actually put its name to in Malaysia is far smaller and more conditional. On October 8, SoftBank signed a framework agreement with Southeast Asian ride-hailing company Grab and Malaysian energy company Petroleum Sarawak, known as Petros, to explore an AI infrastructure platform in Sarawak.
That agreement commits the three parties to develop a roadmap and explore opportunities across the AI value chain, including AI computing infrastructure, robotics and local AI talent. It is a declaration of intent, not a spending plan. Nikkei Asia also reported that SoftBank is expected to contribute only a portion of the $50 billion total, with project financing and other sources likely to fund the rest.
Why Malaysia, and why now
For SoftBank, Malaysia would extend an AI infrastructure push that already spans the United States and Europe. The group is working on a $500 billion data centre project in Ohio and a project in France worth up to 75 billion euros, as it bets that whoever controls computing capacity will shape the AI era.
For Malaysia, the prize is moving up the value chain. The government wants the country to become a regional hub for AI and digital infrastructure, and is pushing operators to integrate local suppliers and shift the workforce from back-end technology support into higher-skilled engineering roles ahead of its 2030 AI nation target. Anwar also stressed that political stability and a welcoming investment environment would be needed to sustain international confidence.
The next test is simple: whether SoftBank confirms the figure, and whether a formal agreement with a timeline follows. Until then, the $50 billion stands as a prime minister's announcement of a plan in discussion, and a measure of just how large the AI infrastructure race has become.
