ByteDance Plans $2.1B AI Investment in Malaysia, Zafrul Says

ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese parent company of TikTok, plans to invest about 10 billion ringgit ($2.1 billion) in Malaysia to establish a regional artificial intelligence hub, according to Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz.

ByteDance also intends to expand its existing data center facilities in Malaysia’s Johor state with an additional 1.5 billion ringgit investment, Zafrul said in a Friday post on X. He’d met earlier with TikTok executive Helena Lersch.

ByteDance’s additional investments will help Malaysia achieve its target of growing the digital economy to 22.6% of GDP by 2025, according to Zafrul.

The minister’s announcement comes as ...