Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia took a bold step in its digital transformation on Thursday with the launch of Ilmu 1.0, the nation’s first multimodal AI model. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim described the milestone as a leap forward in positioning the country as an AI-driven economy.
Ilmu – short for Intelek Luhur Malaysia Untukmu – is capable of processing and generating text, voice, and images, and has been tailored to Malay, English, and local dialects. Developed by YTL AI Labs in collaboration with Universiti Malaya, the system is hosted on YTL’s sovereign AI cloud, ensuring both data residency and enterprise-grade security.
“Our vision is not just to harness AI to catch up with the rest of the world, but to lead in some areas, protect our values, and give meaning to the principles of equity and justice,” Anwar said at the ASEAN AI Summit. He also underscored the importance of bridging the digital divide, especially in rural and marginalised communities.
Multimodal AI systems like Ilmu integrate diverse forms of data – text, images, audio, and video – allowing for more natural human-computer interaction and advanced problem-solving. According to YTL, Ilmu 1.0 performs on par with top global models such as GPT-4o and Llama 3.1, while excelling in Malay language understanding and practical task execution.
YTL Power managing director Yeoh Seok Hong framed the achievement as both technological and cultural. “Ilmu reflects Malaysia’s cultural and intellectual heritage, and represents a national capability for inclusive innovation,” he said. Digital minister Gobind Singh Deo echoed the sentiment, calling Ilmu a “groundbreaking” step for ethical and locally relevant AI development.
To nurture the ecosystem, YTL AI Labs also announced the Ilmu AI Accelerator Programme in partnership with the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation, committing RM5 million in funding for startups and developers to build applications powered by Ilmu. The model will be accessible to enterprises immediately, with consumer access through ILMUchat rolling out on Malaysia Day, September 16.
YTL has pledged over RM20 billion to build Malaysia’s AI infrastructure, including green data centres and sovereign AI models. Early adopters of Ilmu include Astro, Media Prima, Ryt Bank, Carsome, and Swipey, pointing to its broad commercial relevance.
The two-day ASEAN AI Summit, hosted by Malaysia’s digital ministry, aims to strengthen regional collaboration and establish Malaysia as a key hub in Southeast Asia’s rapidly evolving AI landscape. With Ilmu 1.0, the country is positioning itself not only as a user of global technologies but as an innovator in its own right.
