$50 Billion Investment Plan Targets AI and Malaysia
Key Facts
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on October 24 that a global investor plans to invest $50 billion in artificial intelligence, new technology and data centers in Sarawak and the Malaysian peninsula. Fortune identified SoftBank as the investor, but its report did not include confirmation from the company of the plan’s value. Anwar said the investor had chosen Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, and the Malaysian peninsula as investment locations. The announcement puts a substantial sum on the table for the country’s digital infrastructure sector. It also broadens the announced activity to include new technology alongside data centers and artificial intelligence.
Fortune reported that Anwar discussed the investment with SoftBank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son during a video call in the week before his speech. This points to direct talks between the prime minister and Son about the plan, while the public announcement remained attributed to Anwar. Fortune did not report confirmation from SoftBank of the $50 billion amount. The investment’s value therefore remained within the scope of what the prime minister announced about a global investor, with Fortune linking the investor to SoftBank. The distinction remains important in assessing the scale of the announced commitment.
The scale of the amount stands out when compared with investment activity in Malaysian data centers in recent years. Fortune said the country recorded $94 billion in investments between 2021 and mid-2026, and that carrying out the proposed plan would raise the total by more than half. The Malaysian Investment Development Authority said investments related to data centers reached 385.7 billion ringgit from 2021 to the first half of 2026. Fortune’s and the agency’s figures cover roughly the same period, but express the values in different currencies. These figures provide context for the potential plan’s scale relative to the sector’s recorded expansion in Malaysia.
SoftBank’s presence in Sarawak extends to a framework agreement it signed with Grab and PETROS on October 8 to explore developing an artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure platform there. SoftBank said the parties would set out a roadmap for developing the platform in phases. The agreement also covers exploring opportunities in computing, AI services, advanced technologies and robotics. It also cites local workforce and community development among the areas of cooperation. This provides an earlier framework for cooperation in Sarawak, while the $50 billion investment remains a plan announced by Anwar.
Anwar linked the plan to its potential impact on the labor market, saying it “could create new and better jobs for Malaysians, especially young people.” The message puts employment opportunities at the heart of the prime minister’s case for the investment, alongside technology sectors and data centers. Meanwhile, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority projected that data centers’ electricity demand would exceed 5,000 megawatts by 2035. The deputy minister of investment, trade and industry said the government would not approve data center projects before ensuring that power and water supplies were sufficient for residents and local industries. The agency also called for the sector’s success to be measured by the stronger Malaysian companies, local capabilities and sustainable opportunities it builds, not by investment volume alone.
In the market, SoftBank depositary receipts listed under the symbol SFTBY closed at $13.27 on October 23, according to EL7 data. The price offers a trading snapshot ahead of Anwar’s announcement the next day and does not in itself measure the market’s reaction to the plan. Separately, the Associated Press reported that SoftBank’s quarterly sales rose nearly 11% to 2 trillion yen in the first fiscal quarter it covered in August, and that the company does not issue annual forecasts. The news agency said the group’s stock fell 4% in Tokyo during the session when results were announced at the time. That move related to the August results announcement and is not a documented response to the Malaysian investment announcement.