Sidec Signs Four Robotics and Autonomous-Vehicle Pilots at AiSEM@Selangor
Four robotics and autonomous-vehicle companies have agreed to set up and run pilot projects in Selangor under collaborations with the Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec), Bernama reported on October 17. The agreements were exchanged on October 15 at the Selangor AI & Semiconductor Summit 2026, AiSEM@Selangor, which ran from October 14 to 17 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur.
Work-E Robotics plans to establish itself in the state and pilot a humanoid robot, an autonomous surveillance and inspection platform and a service robot. eMooVit will use Selangor as its base for pilots of its Level 4 autonomous-vehicle software and build a local team. Aliran Tenaga will run pilots of autonomous mobile robots, collaborative robots and Industry 4.0 systems, while NCT World wants to make NCT Smart Industrial Park an assembly base for robotics and automation makers, with an exhibition hub on site.
Under each deal, Sidec said it will support regulatory engagement, funding and adoption, while the partner runs the pilots and trains local talent. Chief executive Yong Kai Ping said every robot and autonomous vehicle on show runs on chips and needs engineers to design, build and maintain it, and that the aim is for more of that work to be done in Malaysia, by Malaysians. The exhibition floor featured 21 robots and autonomous machines from nine companies.
What it means in practice
The pilots tie Selangor’s robotics ambitions to its chip-design base. State executive councillor Ng Sze Han said Selangor is putting RM50 million, alongside RM50 million each from Penang and Khazanah, into a new RM150 million strategic fund, and that IC Design Parks 1 and 2 now host 20 companies and have passed their 400-engineer year-end target. Sidec is exploring a third park focused on robotics, autonomous systems and the low-altitude economy, linking these pilots to the six homegrown chips Malaysia unveiled, including SkyeChip’s MARS1000 edge-AI processor, and to foreign bets such as AgiBot’s RM1 billion robotics pledge.
The real test will be regulatory. Level 4 software is meant to drive within defined areas without a human taking over, and running such pilots on Malaysian roads needs permits, insurance arrangements and data rules that are still taking shape. Sidec’s promise to handle regulatory engagement suggests the state wants to be where those questions are answered first.
What to watch: when eMooVit names its first test routes, whether Work-E’s humanoid pilots move beyond demonstrations, and whether the third IC Design Park is formally announced.