SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has picked Malaysia for $50 billion of investment in AI, new technology and data centers, according to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. SoftBank has not confirmed the figure, and its public announcements do not mention it. A framework agreement signed Oct. 8 in Sarawak names no amount.
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has picked Malaysia for $50 billion of investment in artificial intelligence, new technology and data centers, according to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. The company has not confirmed the figure.
Anwar made the claim on Saturday at the launch of a national cost of living plan in Malacca. He said Son had outlined the plan to him during a video call on Tuesday. The remarks come from a verbatim text his office published in Malay. Bloomberg was first to report them in English.
“He said he had chosen Sarawak, Kuching and the peninsula to expand his investment, among the largest investments in this region, worth $50 billion. In what fields? In AI, new technology, data centers,” Anwar said, in a translation by TNW.
Has SoftBank confirmed the $50 billion Malaysia investment?
SoftBank has not announced the number, and none of its press releases since Oct. 8 mention it. That leaves a wide gap between the prime minister's account and the company's public record.
A framework deal in Sarawak
Where would SoftBank's AI investment in Malaysia be located?
On Oct. 8, SoftBank signed a framework agreement in Kuching with Grab and Petroleum Sarawak Berhad, known as PETROS, the state energy company. The three companies agreed to explore an AI and digital infrastructure platform in Sarawak. They plan to draw up a roadmap to build it in phases, covering AI compute, robotics and local workforce development.
The agreement does not name an amount. It also does not commit the companies to sign final deals or carry out the project. Anwar's $50 billion figure has no visible link to that document.
Who is funding SoftBank's $50 billion Malaysia investment?
Nikkei Asia reported that SoftBank would fund only part of the $50 billion, with financing and other partners covering the rest, according to a Fortune report. TNW has not independently verified that reporting.
Jobs and a political pitch
Anwar told the audience, many of them students, that the investment would bring new and better jobs. He linked it directly to political stability.
“If there is no investment, if people have no confidence in this government, if the leadership keeps quarrelling, people will not be interested in coming,” he said.
In the same speech, Anwar said politics in Malacca was heating up. The state holds elections on Nov. 14, Fortune reported.
Anwar also pressed for stronger skills in AI, digitalization and chips. He wants Malaysia to move beyond back-end work and into front-end technology.
The country's data center sector has already drawn heavy money. The Malaysian Investment Development Authority, known as MIDA, recorded RM385.7 billion of data center-related investment from 2021 to mid-2026. In September, OpenAI became the anchor customer for a Firmus site in Malaysia.
Son's own financing has grown more complicated. He has funded his AI bets with a new $60 billion bond and with loans secured on his OpenAI stake.
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