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Malaysia to Pay $250 Million for Arm Holdings Chip Design

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Malaysia has announced a $250 million agreement with Arm Holdings, spanning 10 years, to acquire chip design blueprints for local manufacturers. The deal aligns with the country’s ambition to develop its own graphics processing unit (GPU) chips within the next five to ten years, amid rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated that the partnership would enable Malaysia to design, manufacture, and distribute AI chips globally. As part of the deal, Arm will establish its first Southeast Asian office in Kuala Lumpur, serving as a hub for regional expansion, including Australia and New Zealand.

Arm CEO Rene Haas emphasized Malaysia’s strong foundation in the semiconductor industry, citing its expertise in advanced packaging, assembly, and manufacturing. Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli revealed that the agreement covers seven high-end chip designs and includes a training program for 10,000 engineers.

The initiative aims to strengthen Malaysia’s semiconductor ecosystem by fostering 10 local chip companies, each projected to generate annual revenues between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. The government plans to develop a complete supply chain for AI servers, autonomous vehicles, IoT, and robotics, prioritizing local firms for key production roles.

Since 2023, global tech giants such as Microsoft, Nvidia, Google, and ByteDance have invested billions in Malaysia’s digital infrastructure, particularly in cloud services and data centers. The country is also constructing Southeast Asia’s largest integrated-circuit design park, offering tax breaks and subsidies to attract international tech players, with Arm expected to play a central role.

OpenAI Set to Finalize First Custom Chip Design This Year

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OpenAI is advancing toward its goal of reducing its reliance on Nvidia by finalizing the design of its first in-house artificial intelligence (AI) chip, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The company plans to send its first custom-designed chip for fabrication at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in the coming months, marking a significant step toward mass production, which is expected to begin in 2026.

The process, referred to as “taping out,” involves sending the chip design to a factory for production. While the initial tape-out can cost tens of millions of dollars and take six months for completion, there’s no guarantee the first version of the chip will be successful. If issues arise, OpenAI would need to diagnose and repeat the tape-out process, which can delay production further.

OpenAI views this chip development as a strategic move to enhance its negotiating position with other chip suppliers. The company’s engineers plan to build upon this initial design, creating increasingly advanced processors with broader capabilities for future iterations. If the first tape-out is successful, OpenAI aims to test its custom AI chip as a potential alternative to Nvidia’s chips later this year.

OpenAI’s in-house team, led by Richard Ho, who joined from Google’s custom AI chip program, is collaborating with Broadcom to design the chip. Despite being a smaller team compared to those at tech giants like Google and Amazon, OpenAI’s chip development is progressing at a remarkable pace, outpacing the years-long efforts of other companies in the space.

Currently, Nvidia dominates the AI chip market with an 80% share, but the increasing costs and reliance on a single supplier have prompted major companies, including OpenAI, to explore alternatives. OpenAI’s custom chip is designed to train and run AI models and will initially be deployed on a limited scale. The chip will be manufactured using TSMC’s advanced 3-nanometer process technology and will feature systolic array architecture, high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and extensive networking capabilities—similar to Nvidia’s chips.

While the first chip is expected to play a limited role within OpenAI’s infrastructure, the company plans to expand its AI chip program in the future. To match the scale of Google or Amazon’s AI chip programs, OpenAI would need to expand its engineering team significantly.

MediaTek Prepares for Potential US Tariffs Amid Uncertainty

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MediaTek, Taiwan’s leading chip design firm, has been running simulations in anticipation of potential U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese goods, according to CEO Rick Tsai. Despite the uncertainty surrounding this issue, Tsai expressed confidence that the impact would be “manageable” in 2025.

Taiwan’s tech industry, including giants like TSMC, faces the risk of tariffs as U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed such measures to incentivize semiconductor production within the United States. On the campaign trail, Trump criticized Taiwan for allegedly taking U.S. semiconductor business.

Trump has outlined plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, as well as other products such as pharmaceuticals and steel, though no specific timeline has been set. When asked about the potential effects on MediaTek, Tsai referred to the situation as “very unpredictable,” but assured that the company is taking proactive measures, such as simulations, to prepare for the possible changes.

Although Tsai acknowledged the unpredictability of the situation, he believes the impact of any tariffs in the short term will be manageable, especially for 2025. “There are so many variables, so it’s very difficult to give an accurate estimate now,” he said.

In addition to trade concerns, MediaTek is facing pressure from the rise of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup whose lower-cost models are posing a challenge to Western tech investments in chipmakers and data centers. Despite this, Tsai remains optimistic about the AI market, noting that the spread of AI will benefit average users.

MediaTek’s shares have outperformed the broader market in 2025, showing a 7.8% gain so far, while the overall market has gained only 1.9%. However, the company’s shares closed flat on Friday.