Malaysia Walks Back Megaspeed Clearance as Chip Re-Export Probe Grinds On

Malaysia's Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry said Friday that claims it had cleared Speedmatrix were flat wrong. The ministry's visits to the data centers where Speedmatrix rents space and installs its own servers and AI chips were routine checks, it said, not a clean bill of health. MITI is now working with customs officials to determine whether Nvidia AI chips brought into Malaysia were later shipped to other countries illegally.

The walk-back came three days after Trade Minister Johari Abdul Ghani said Speedmatrix was not under investigation, citing no strong evidence and no official request from another country. Companies don't need a license to bring AI chips into Malaysia, but re-exporting them triggers stricter rules. MITI said Malaysia does not enforce other countries' export controls, though it expects firms doing business there to know them.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs said Thursday it is still investigating Megaspeed and six people, checking whether servers sent through Singapore to Malaysia were later shipped onward without proper reporting. One person in that group is Alice Huang, the suspected Chinese spy in the infidelity scandal surrounding Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Friday there is no sign Megaspeed sent Nvidia chips out of Malaysia. He added that Malaysia has received no official request from Singapore or the US, but is willing to help.

The uncertainty is already hitting the market. YTL Power, whose data center business works with Nvidia, has shed about 12.5% of its value since Tuesday — a loss of roughly 5.5 billion ringgit — as investors worry about its Megaspeed ties. Banking executives told the newspaper that funding for about half of planned data center projects is on hold, with some facing delays of up to six months while banks wait to see what Washington does next.