TikTok's parent ByteDance planning $2.1B investment to make ...

China-headquartered ByteDance, parent of popular social media app TikTok, plans to invest around MYR10 billion ($2.13 billion) to set up an artificial intelligence (AI) hub in Malaysia, the country’s trade minister said on Friday.

In a post on social media platform X, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Zafrul Abdul Aziz said taking into consideration future requirements, the company also plans to expand the data center facilities with an additional investment of MYR1.5 billion.

This was conveyed to him during his meeting with TikTok vice president Helena Lersch in Singapore on Friday, according to his post.

“The additional investment from ByteDance will certainly help Malaysia in achieving the target of growing the digital economy to 22.6 percent of Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product by 2025,” he said.

The plan also aims to turn Malaysia into a regional AI hub.

The minister also noted that TikTok, through ByteDance System Sdn Bhd, has developed a data center at Sedenak Tech Park in Kulai, Johor.

The announcement also comes after investment news into the country by other tech giants. Last month, it was reported that Google was planning a $2 billion investment to develop its first data center and Google Cloud region in Malaysia.

Another US-based tech giant Microsoft said it will invest $2.2 billion to expand cloud and AI services, according to media reports.

Google to invest $2B for data center and cloud region in Malaysia