Malaysia denies clearance and investigates AI chip re-exports
Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said on Friday it has never given clearance to a Singapore-based data-centre operator or its Malaysian affiliate, and it is reviewing whether AI chips brought in have been illegally re-exported.
Clarification on company activities
The affiliate, which operates as a tenant of local data-centre facilities, imports its own servers and artificial-intelligence chips for use in Malaysia.
Importing such chips does not currently require a permit, but exporting, re-exporting, transshipping or transiting high-performance U.S. AI chips has required a permit under the Strategic Trade Act 2010 since July 2025. The exemption for imports is limited to items that remain in the country and are not intended for onward shipment.
Providing false information to customs about those goods is a serious offence under the Customs Act 1967.
“Any verification visits carried out by Miti at these facilities are part of its regular monitoring of the data-centre sector, and should not be taken to mean that a company has been cleared. Any suggestion otherwise is inaccurate,” the ministry said.
International scrutiny
U.S. authorities are probing suspected diversion of restricted Nvidia AI chips to China, according to a Bloomberg report that said the Justice Department is working with the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. The investigation focuses on whether the chips have been moved beyond the original import destination without the required licences.
The Investment, Trade and Industry Minister earlier noted that officials have not been presented with evidence that the affiliate breached Malaysian law.
The agency is cooperating with the Royal Malaysian Customs Department to determine whether chips entered the country were later re-exported in compliance with the law; no finding of wrongdoing has been announced.
It is also coordinating with counterparts in Singapore and the United States and is considering additional measures to strengthen controls.
Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs confirmed that investigations into the Singapore firm and six individuals remain ongoing, focusing on whether servers shipped through Singapore to Malaysia were subsequently routed elsewhere contrary to declarations.
The firm said it has cooperated with U.S. inspections and retained a U.S. law firm to conduct a full inventory of its graphics processing units and independently verify export-control compliance practices.
Local regulatory stance
While Malaysia does not enforce other countries’ unilateral export controls, it expects companies operating locally to take those restrictions into account in their international business.
On-the-ground observations
A directory at Eco Galleria in Iskandar Puteri listed the affiliate at three units when visited on Friday; corporate registry records showed one of those units as the address of a related dormant company.
On-site observations and Megaspeed’s overseas holdings
BT observed no signage bearing MSFusion’s name at the site. The firm was missing from the Eco Galleria directory and Speedmatrix’s interior was not visible, with no activity observed. A nearby worker said staff entered and left on other days.
The Straits Times reported Megaspeed operated seven overseas subsidiaries in 2024. In Malaysia, the subsidiaries were Speedmatrix, Megaspeed International and the dormant MSFusion. MSFusion later bought Johor land for a data centre in August 2025.
Megaspeed held majority or full ownership of entities in Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and the United States. Sayari records show an Nvidia GPU baseboard shipment arrived for Speedmatrix on 18 November 2025.
