Kuala Lumpur, 13 November 2026 – Malaysia is advancing the establishment and operationalisation of the Malaysia AI Safety Institute (MY-AISafe) to strengthen national capabilities in evaluating AI technologies, managing emerging risks and ensuring their safe and responsible deployment.

The initiative was advanced at an Academia Roundtable chaired by Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Digital last week, bringing together university leaders, deans and AI researchers from public and private higher education institutions, with academic participation coordinated through Majlis Dekan ICT (MaDICT).

Convened by the Ministry of Digital through AI Malaysia, the roundtable explored strategic collaboration with academia to develop the scientific expertise, research partnerships and testing infrastructure needed to operationalise MY-AISafe.

Building Malaysia’s Capacity to Test and Trust AI

AI offers significant opportunities for economic growth and innovation. As AI adoption accelerates across public services, industries and everyday life, the ability to assess its safety, reliability and potential risks has become a national priority.

Nevertheless, it also presents challenges and vulnerabilities. Addressing these risks requires more than regulatory frameworks. Malaysia must develop its own technical capabilities to independently evaluate AI systems, identify potential harms and establish appropriate safeguards, particularly in high-impact sectors such as healthcare, finance and public services.

MY-AISafe, one of AI Malaysia’s six core functions, supports the National AI Action Plan 2026 -2030 and Malaysia’s ambition to become an AI Nation by 2030. It will help strengthen the country’s digital resilience by building domestic expertise and ensuring AI technologies are evaluated against Malaysia’s linguistic, cultural and societal needs.

Its proposed priorities include AI safety testing and evaluation; emerging risk and incident monitoring; technical assurance and standards; and the development of locally relevant benchmarks, including Bahasa Melayu and Malaysia’s multilingual and multicultural contexts.

These capabilities will support government, regulators, industry and AI developers in making more informed decisions on AI deployment, strengthening safeguards and accelerating responsible innovation.

Academia as a Strategic Partner

The roundtable explored collaborative models that leverage Malaysia’s existing academic expertise and research infrastructure, rather than creating duplicative capabilities. Potential approaches include academic secondments, partnerships with an anchor university and a distributed network of specialised university research and testing facilities.

These collaborations would bring together expertise in AI model evaluation, multilingual safety, applications and advanced AI testing, supported by shared research infrastructure, computing resources and evaluation datasets.

The approach reflects a whole-of-nation commitment to building national AI safety capabilities through coordinated expertise, shared resources and meaningful partnerships across government, academia and industry.

Strengthening Trust and Responsible Innovation

Gobind further emphasised that Malaysia’s AI ambitions must be supported by the ability to understand, evaluate and manage the risks associated with increasingly sophisticated technologies.

“Building an AI Nation is not simply about how widely we adopt AI, but how confidently and safely our people and businesses can use it. Trust cannot be assumed. It must be supported by evidence, rigorous testing and appropriate safeguards.”

“Through MY-AISafe, the Ministry of Digital is committed to develop its own scientific expertise and technical capabilities to evaluate AI technologies, understand where they may fail and ensure their deployment reflects our national needs and interests.”

“Our universities and research institutions have a critical role to play. By bringing together the strengths of government, academia and industry, we can build a national AI safety ecosystem that protects the public, enables innovation and strengthens Malaysia’s competitiveness and digital resilience,” he said.

Advancing National and Regional AI Safety Cooperation

MY-AISafe is also expected to support Malaysia’s contribution to the ASEAN AI Safety Network (ASEAN AI Safe), established through the ASEAN Declaration adopted during Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025. This will facilitate regional collaboration on AI safety research, technical expertise and evaluation methodologies.

The Academia Roundtable marks an initial step in broader stakeholder consultations involving industry, regulators and professional bodies to shape MY-AISafe’s operational framework and technical priorities.

The initiative complements Malaysia’s wider efforts to strengthen AI governance, including the proposed AI Governance Bill and engagement on international standards through the Regional ISO AI Policy Workshop (10–13 November 2026), organised by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and hosted by the Department of Standards Malaysia.

Together, these efforts reflect Malaysia’s commitment to advancing a coherent AI governance and safety ecosystem, where innovation is supported by scientific expertise, credible safeguards and international standards, enabling Malaysians to embrace AI with greater confidence.

ABOUT AI MALAYSIA BERHAD

AI Malaysia, Malaysia’s national lead AI agency under the Ministry of Digital, was launched on 28 July 2026 through the institutionalisation of the National AI Office (NAIO). Its six strategic functions encompass strategy, policy and foresight; national AI implementation and coordination; AI governance, trust and assurance; international affairs and strategic partnerships; national AI capability development; and the Malaysia AI Safety Institute (MY-AISafe).

AI Malaysia drives and coordinates the implementation of the National AI Action Plan 2026–2030, comprising 28 national initiatives across 14 Sectoral Impact Engines and 14 Foundation Enablers, towards realising Malaysia’s aspiration to become an AI Nation by 2030.

Working across government, industry, academia, communities and international partners, AI Malaysia advances trusted, inclusive and high-impact AI adoption and development, strengthens national AI capabilities, and translates national AI ambitions into meaningful economic and societal outcomes.