National AI Office Malaysia

The National AI Office (NAIO) is the central coordinating body for Malaysia's national artificial intelligence agenda. Approved by the Malaysian Cabinet on 28 August 2024 and formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on 12 December 2024, NAIO sits within the Ministry of Digital and is operationalised through MyDIGITAL Corporation. Its mandate covers AI policy formulation, ethics and governance, infrastructure planning, sectoral adoption, and talent development.

Mandate and objectives

NAIO's stated objectives include accelerating responsible AI adoption across priority sectors, formulating ethical guardrails for both public and private use, coordinating across ministries and agencies, attracting foreign and domestic AI investment, and positioning Malaysia as a regional leader in responsible AI. The office is responsible for tracking Malaysia's standing on international benchmarks such as the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index, the IMF AI Preparedness Index, and the Stanford AI Index. A near-term target is reaching the top tier of the Government AI Readiness Index by 2025.

Organisational structure

NAIO is structured around several working groups covering AI ethics and regulation, AI infrastructure and sovereign compute, talent and skilling, sectoral transformation, and international partnerships. Members are drawn from government, academia, industry, and civil society. The office reports to the Digital Minister and works closely with the Department of Personal Data Protection, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), the National Cyber Security Agency (NACSA), Bank Negara Malaysia, and the Securities Commission Malaysia on cross-cutting issues.

Policy outputs

NAIO inherited and operationalises the AI Governance and Ethics Framework first published in 2024, which articulates seven principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability, and pursuit of human benefit. The framework draws on the OECD AI Principles, UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of AI, and the ASEAN Guide on AI Governance and Ethics.

The office is coordinating the National AI Action Plan 2026–2030, scheduled to be tabled by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) in December 2025. The plan covers five strategic areas: technology development, talent, governance, infrastructure, and investment. It aims to align Malaysian practice with the EU AI Act, Singapore's AI Verify, and OECD AI Principles, and to address algorithmic transparency, bias detection, AI audit frameworks, and cross-border data flow regulation.

Initiatives

NAIO oversees several flagship initiatives including the AI Sandbox for regulated experimentation, sectoral AI adoption pilots in healthcare and agriculture, the AI Untuk Rakyat citizen literacy programme, and AI for Sustainable Development partnerships with United Nations agencies. The office also coordinates Malaysia's participation in international forums such as the United Nations AI Advisory Body and the Global Partnership on AI.

Funding and milestones

NAIO received an initial RM10 million allocation in Budget 2025. Under Budget 2026, the Ministry of Digital received RM16.36 billion (about US$3.6 billion) for digital initiatives, a portion of which funds AI infrastructure, sovereign compute, and skills programmes coordinated through NAIO. AI is projected to contribute roughly US$115 billion (RM530 billion) to the Malaysian economy by 2030, according to the Ministry of Digital.

References

1. Malaysia National AI Office. (2025). About NAIO. ai.gov.my/about-naio.
2. Prime Minister's Office of Malaysia. (2024). Launch of the National AI Office. pmo.gov.my.
3. Ministry of Digital Malaysia. (2024). AI Governance and Ethics Framework. digital.gov.my.
4. MOSTI. (2025). National AI Action Plan 2026–2030 Concept Paper. mosti.gov.my.