DeepSeek not a threat to MY's data centre boom, says digital minister

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Digital minister Gobind Singh Deo has reportedly said that the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is not a threat to Malaysia's data centre growth.

While certain countries have expressed concerns regarding data safety and regulatory compliance, Malaysia views this development as an opportunity to strengthen its role as a regional data hub, said Deo, reported The Malaysian Reserve.

Currently, the Malaysian government is also studying how the country can leverage new advancements in technology while maintaining regulatory standards, the minister added. The minister reportedly made these comments at the launch of the Future Connected 5G Advanced on Tuesday (4 Feb).

Don't miss: MY govt to study DeepSeek and how to adapt it, says digital minister

In addition, new advancements in AI will accelerate the data centre boom in country, enabling services to be provided at a lower cost, said Deo reported The Star. He noted that an increased demand can also be expected if a lot of people are using these services.

Deo reportedly explained that addressing how the country can ensure that policies that have already been designed can be adapted to new developments is more important.

Aspects such as cost and energy consumption needs to be looked into as well, he added.

Earlier in the week (3 Feb), Deo reportedly said that the Malaysian government will be studying the impact of DeepSeek on the country.

He said that the government is giving serious consideration to DeepSeek and its model before it can be adopted for local use. This is so that Malaysia can keep up with the latest developments in the AI landscape.

As such, the government will reportedly be studying DeepSeek as well as keep an eye for more AI products as the landscape develops.

This comes as DeepSeek made waves last week, with some industry players comparing it with rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. The app topped the downloads list on Apple's App Store, taking over ChatGPT too.

In 2024, Malaysia received investments from tech giants Google and Microsoft to set up data centres in the country. Google invested US$2 billion to develop its first Google data centre and Google Cloud region while Microsoft invested US$2.2 billion to advance new cloud and AI infrastructure in Malaysia. The investment includes building digital infrastructure, creating AI skilling opportunities for 200,000 people in Malaysia, establishing a national AI Centre of Excellence and enhancing the nation’s cybersecurity capabilities.

Photo courtesy of Gobind Singh Deo, Facebook.

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