Can Nilai become an AI mega hub?

AN eye-popping announcement was made this week by Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun.

He unveiled a plan to transform Nilai into an artificial intelligence (AI) manufacturing city.

Not only that, his announcement talked about technologies that most Malaysians, including officials from our semiconductor industry, are not well versed in.

The terms “photonic chipset integration facilities”, “glass interposer and waveguide factories”, and “AI compute system assembly lines” were used.

It will truly be amazing if all of this can take place in Nilai, which hitherto was known as an education centre and shopping and wholesale destination, as well as a logistics and industrial growth hub. That said, Nilai has already become the site for two new data centres, projects that are riding the AI theme.

Aminuddin also revealed a big investment number for the massive project – US$20bil (RM81.7bil) to be spent over the next five years.

So, who is going to sink this capital into Nilai? Aminuddin said the project is being realised through a collaboration between the Hosein Family Office (USA) and the Gan Family Office (Malaysia). These are not names familiar to many in Malaysia’s business community, but the state’s press release provided some explanation.

“Mehamood Hosein, the founder of deep-tech Hosein Family Office, is leading the initiative with more than 30 years of experience in real-time temporal systems, advanced semiconductor innovation, and photonic computing, while the Gan Family Office is contributing 3,000 acres of land”, according to the statement.

The ambitious project promises a huge number of jobs – 40,000 high-paying skilled positions, 20,000 indirect jobs across supporting industries and a total of 60,000 long-term employment opportunities.

Will these little-known parties be able to pull off this massive project? If it comes to fruition, it would be a major boost not only for the state, but also for the country.

The public awaits with bated breath for more details on this project.