kuala lumpur: The government will award ARM Compute Subsystem (CSS) Tokens (access to ARM Holdings’ high-end chip design framework) to Malaysian semiconductor companies that will meet selection criteria at the next KL20 conference in the coming months, Economic Minister Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli said.
He said through an ecological partnership with ARM Holdings, Malaysia will work on developing complex design companies with ARM intellectual property expertise and designing based on CSS, which is ARM’s “Crown Jewel.”
“For each CSS, we aim to build a complete supply chain in advanced industries such as AI data servers, autonomous vehicles, IoT, and robotics. The ecosystem perspective also means prioritizing local players as the first resort for every part of the supply chain,” he said in a speech released today at ARM Limited with the launch of Silicon Vision 2025.
Rafizi said it introduced collaboration structures with senior foreign companies and proposed technology transfer and localization requirements to allow local players to be elevated in a realistic and holistic way.
“We will showcase the progress of this Arm collaboration in the coming months. We will launch the 10-year Vision Blueprint, announce recipients of CSS tokens, highlight collaboration with local players, and showcase these technology prototypes at the upcoming KL20 Summit,” he said.
Rafizi said the Malaysian semiconductor industry must move from OSAT (backend) which captures 5-10% of its value to an integrated circuit design that captures 60% or more of its supply chain value.
“Our economic strategy requires Malaysia to build local indigenous technologies for higher margin exports and supply chain resilience. We need to challenge new technology sectors such as AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and IoT,” he added.
According to media reports, Rafij told reporters on Monday that Malaysia will obtain its chip design plan to pay US$250 million (USD$1.1 billion) over a decade.
Malaysia aims to create its own graphics processing unit chips within the next five to ten years to meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence centres and data centers.
The deal includes access to ARM’s seven high-end chip design blueprints and commitment to training 10,000 Malaysia engineers.
The government hopes that the deal will help local semiconductor companies scale up, with the goal of 10 companies generating annual revenues of between US$1.5 billion and US$2 billion.
