Aolani Signs Letters of Intent for 500MW of Malaysian AI Data Centre Capacity From 2027

Aolani, a Singapore-founded neocloud company, has signed letters of intent to take up 500 megawatts of AI data centre capacity in Malaysia, Business Today reported on October 19. The capacity is targeted to come online from the second half of 2027 across multiple Malaysian sites, all designed to Tier III standards.

Under the arrangement Aolani will provide the AI infrastructure, GPU deployment and operating requirements once the facilities are complete. The company projects that it could commit up to 580MW of capacity in Malaysia by 2027, up from about 80MW already committed in 2026. It says the expansion will serve demand from global hyperscalers and AI-native companies while making compute available locally, and that it is exploring partnerships to supply high-performance capacity to Malaysian sovereign AI programmes, local enterprises, researchers and startups.

Chief executive Nicholas Chia called Malaysia a vital strategic anchor and a proven home market for the company, arguing that the next stage is using local compute to catalyse the local AI ecosystem and the wider economy. The letters of intent are non-binding and remain subject to negotiation and signing of definitive agreements, and the report did not name the sites or the developers behind them.

What it means in practice

The move extends Aolani’s Nvidia Blackwell Ultra expansion for a Malaysian AI cloud and follows the SoftBank, Grab and PETROS framework for Sarawak AI infrastructure. Both depend on power, which is why the Energy Ministry’s review of data centre power reservations matters: reserved megawatts that sit idle can crowd out other users.

The local-access promise is the more interesting part for Malaysian policymakers. Plans for a national AI compute exchange in early 2027 suggest the government wants domestic firms to reach GPU capacity on fair terms, and neoclouds like Aolani could become suppliers to such a market if pricing and allocation rules are clear.

What to watch: which sites and developers sign definitive agreements, how much of the 500MW is set aside for Malaysian users rather than foreign hyperscalers, and whether grid connections keep pace with the second-half 2027 target.