SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son has picked sites in Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia for about $50 billion of investment in artificial intelligence, new technology and data centers, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in a speech in Melaka on Oct. 24, according to Bloomberg.

If it goes ahead in full, the plan would rank among the largest single technology commitments in Southeast Asia and would extend AI infrastructure spending to Malaysian Borneo as well as the peninsula. For investors in the region, it also puts a gas-rich state at the center of the contest for AI power supply.

SoftBank has not confirmed the figure. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Bloomberg reported, and no breakdown by site, project or timetable has been published.

What Anwar and Sarawak's premier said

Anwar said he spoke with Son by video conference earlier in the week and that Son had named the regions for projects including data centers. The prime minister called it “among the largest investments in the region,” according to the Bloomberg report carried by The Edge Malaysia, and said it would create better jobs, particularly for young workers.

Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Tun Openg added detail two days later. Speaking to reporters in Kuching, he said the plans include an AI data center at Tanjung Embang, according to The Edge Malaysia. He declined to name the company or confirm the amount, citing confidentiality, and said the proposal remains at an early stage.

He confirmed the prime minister's account but said the project was “still at the planning stage.” Abang Johari said the investor chose Kuching because it sees Sarawak as forward-looking and moving toward a new economy, and he credited the state's free education policy with preparing its workforce. He made the remarks after opening the Sarawak Urban Forum 2.0.

The Edge Malaysia put the $50 billion at about RM204 billion.

A framework already signed in Kuching

The announcement follows a deal SoftBank signed in Kuching on Oct. 8 with Grab Holdings and Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (PETROS), the state-owned energy company. Son signed for SoftBank alongside Grab Chief Executive Anthony Tan and PETROS Group Chief Executive Janin Girie, with Abang Johari in attendance, according to SoftBank's statement.

The three parties agreed to explore an AI and digital infrastructure platform in Sarawak and to draw up a roadmap for building it in phases. SoftBank said it would bring AI infrastructure, advanced computing, semiconductors and what it calls physical AI. Grab would contribute its regional customer and partner networks and applied AI. PETROS would supply energy solutions and enabling infrastructure through the Sarawak Gas Roadmap and its role as master developer of the Kuching Low-Carbon Hub.

The framework is not binding. SoftBank's statement said it does not oblige the parties to sign definitive agreements, and it listed land, competitively priced and reliable power, connectivity and contracted customer demand among the conditions still to be secured. It gave no capacity figure in megawatts and no cost.

That caveat matters. Data center pledges in Asia often arrive as headline numbers years before a building is energized, and the gap between a framework and a financed, powered campus can be long.

Malaysia's data center pipeline

Malaysia recorded RM385.7 billion (about $94 billion) of data center-related investment from 2021 through the first half of 2026, according to Malaysian Investment Development Authority figures cited by Bloomberg. Amazon, Microsoft and Google are among the companies that have committed money there. The government wants operators to buy from local suppliers and help spread AI adoption, and it aims for Malaysia to become an “AI nation” by 2030.

A $50 billion SoftBank program would equal more than half of that six-year total. It would also sit alongside other large AI bets in the region, including Naver's $9 billion Brookfield deal for an AI data center in Sejong.

SoftBank's existing commitments are already large. It is working on a $500 billion data center project in Ohio, a French project that could cost up to 75 billion euros ($84 billion), and data centers under construction in Hokkaido and in Sakai, Osaka, according to Bloomberg.

No contracts with Malaysian suppliers have been announced. The next concrete step to watch is the phased roadmap promised under the Oct. 8 framework, and whether SoftBank itself puts a number on its Malaysia plans.