Malaysian chip design company SkyeChip has unveiled the country’s first domestic Edge AI processor.

First reported by Bloomberg, the MARS1000 processor was unveiled at an industry event in the country last week. It will be used to power devices such as cars and robots, the Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association said in a statement.

No information about where the company will manufacture the chip has been disclosed.

Although this is the first home-grown AI chip developed in the country, Malaysia is a well-established player in the semiconductor industry.

Currently, around 13 percent of global chip testing and packaging takes place in Malaysia, but the government has been pushing to further establish the country as a leader in semiconductor front-end design.

In 2024, the government of Malaysia unveiled its National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS), a three-phase $5.3 billion plan designed to boost the country’s semiconductor industry. The three phases of the NSS involve leveraging existing capacity, pursuing cutting-edge technology, and developing local chip design and advanced packaging capabilities.

In April of that same year, the Malaysian government announced plans to build the largest integrated circuit design park in Southeast Asia to promote domestic semiconductor design and prototyping. Additionally, manufacturing and chip design company Arm is set to establish a base in Malaysia, having reached an agreement with the government in March 2025.

In July, Malaysia announced new restrictions on the export of US-made AI chips from the country in an effort to help reduce the number of advanced semiconductors being smuggled into China. Earlier that month, it was reported that President Trump was similarly planning to restrict the shipments of AI chips to Malaysia and Thailand, also as part of an effort to clamp down on chip smuggling to China.