Bytedance is investing RM10 billion in Malaysia to develop artificial intelligence

TikTok's parent company ByteDance plans to invest RM10 billion   in artificial intelligence to make Malaysia a regional AI hub.

According to Reuters and Nanyang Siang Pau, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Zaflur said on the X platform that he was informed of the matter by TikTok's global vice president Leech when he met with him in Singapore on Friday (June 7).

TikTok is currently setting up a data centre in Johor's Kulasenah Hi-tech Industrial Park via ByteDance systems. Zafrou said that in view of future demand, ByteDance intends to invest an additional RM1.5 billion to expand its data centre facilities.

"This additional investment by ByteDance will undoubtedly help Malaysia achieve its target of 22.6% growth in the digital economy to Malaysia's gross domestic product by 2025," Zaflur said on X.

Bytedance's investment is one of the latest moves by a number of tech companies into Southeast Asia. Other tech giants have announced similar investment plans in recent months.

Last month, Google said it planned to invest US $2 billion (S $2.7 billion) to develop its first data centre and Google Cloud region in Malaysia, while Microsoft said it would invest US $2.2 billion to expand cloud and artificial intelligence services.