Google to invest $2bn on AI, cloud computing in Malaysia

Google will invest $2bn in Malaysia to house the firm’s first data centre in the country, the government said Thursday, making it the latest tech titan to pump cash into the region in search of growth opportunities.

The government said the cash would support 26,500 jobs across various sectors in Malaysia, including healthcare, education, and finance, and comes days after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim targeted at least $107 billion in investments for the semiconductor industry.

Anwar said in April that he planned to build Southeast Asia’s largest integrated circuit design park, while offering incentives including tax breaks and subsidies to attract global tech companies and investors.

President and chief investment officer of Google and its parent firm Alphabet, Ruth Porat, said, “Google’s first data centre and Google Cloud region is our largest planned investment so far in Malaysia – a place Google has been proud to call home for 13 years.

“This investment builds on our partnership with the Malaysian government to advance its ‘Cloud First Policy’, including best-in-class cybersecurity standards.”

Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said the cash “will significantly advance” Malaysia’s digital ambitions outlined in a 2030 masterplan.

He added that the data centre and cloud region “will empower our manufacturing and service-based industries to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies to move up the global value chain”.

Earlier this month Microsoft said it would spend $2.2bn on AI and cloud computing in Malaysia, with boss Satya Nadella pledging to invest billions in Thailand and Indonesia during a tour of the region.

And Amazon said it would spend US$9 billion in Singapore over the next four years to expand its cloud computing capabilities in the city.

The facility announced on Thursday will be located at a business park west of the capital Kuala Lumpur and will power Google’s popular digital services such as Search, Maps, and Workspace.

“When operational, Malaysia will join the 11 countries where Google has built and currently operates data centres to serve users around the world,” the statement said.

The Google Cloud region “will deliver high-performance and low-latency cloud infrastructure, analytics, and AI services to large enterprises, startups, and public sector organisations”, it added.

A key player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch.

Research by global consulting firm Kearney showed AI was poised to contribute $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s gross domestic product by 2030, with Malaysia predicted to see more than a tenth of that.

“Now that many of these American tech giants are diversifying their investment risks away from China, Malaysia with its traditional involvement in high-tech industry is in a good position to welcome the relocation of their operations,” said Oh Ei Sun, an analyst with the Pacific Research Center of Malaysia.

Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO

The Amazon’s founder and chief executive, Jeff Bezos, said on Tuesday he would hand over the company’s reins in July.

However, in an email sent to staff, Bezos said he would transit into the role of executive chairman in the e-commerce giant.

A statement by Amazon said the Chief Executive of the company’s Cloud Computing Division, Andy Jassy, would be promoted to run the entire company.

Bezos said “As much as I still tap dance into the office, I’m excited about this transition.

“As executive chairman, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives.”

Bezos has successfully transformed the company he founded as an online bookseller in 1996 into a $1.7 trillion behemoths with more than 1.2 million employees.

ZOOM CONQUERED VIDEO CONFERENCING

It is not out of place to ask “how did Zoom conquer video conferencing”?Zoom grew so quickly in 2020 that its brand became the default term for video conferencing. “Let’s use Zoom,” has become as as, “ Google it.” What in the world is responsible for that explosive growth in the face of competition from (other) brands like Cisco, Microsoft and Google?

COULD IT BE COVID19 PANDEMIC?

The Covid-19 crisis caused an enormous surge in demand for video communications with so many people unable to meet in person, but that alone doesn’t explain Zoom’s ascendance. They were growing rapidly long before Covid-19 shut down offices, events, and travel. Zoom had already surpassed its larger competitors in the years preceding the pandemic:

According to the 2020 Businesses @ Work report from Okta “Zoom was the #1 fastest growing video conferencing app in 2016, and it hasn’t slowed down since. Over the past three years, Zoom has enjoyed an astounding 876% growth in number of customers in our network. For comparison, second-place Cisco Webex grew 91% over that same period.”

As with Amazon, the pandemic crisis simply accelerated Zoom’s already robust growth.

COULD IT BE ZOOM’S “Frictionless” MISSION?

Zoom’s mission statement us simple and straight forward “Make video communications frictionless.” At a time when most corporate mission statements try to acknowledge every priority and every stakeholder, this short, direct message stands out.

It is obvious that this statement provides clarity to every team member. If you are a developer, network expert, or any other Zoom employee, you know that any action you take should never increase customer effort or increase complexity. If you do, you’ll be contradicting Zoom’s reason for existence. In short, the simpler, the easier, the better.

Zoom was founded by Eric Yuan, who left Cisco’s Webex unit to focus on mobile-friendly video conferencing. Webex was the dominant video conference player before Zoom passed them.

The Cisco’s mission statement on their website which is “Shape the future of the Internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity for our customers, employees, investors, and ecosystem partners.” This statement is so broad and jargon-laden that it provides no clear direction for team members. How could a developer or designer possibly know if a new feature or a interface design will “create unprecedented value and opportunity?” Will fixing something that customers complained about really “shape the future?” The mission statement, if I am permitted to say, is itself high friction.

Zoom grew more rapidly than its much larger competitors because it made things easy for its users. Easy to set up, easy to use, easy to change one’s background… maximum simplicity, minimum effort. But, in striving to make onboarding a user as simple as possible, Zoom skipped some security precautions.

One of these lapses made Mac computer webcams vulnerable to hackers. Another security hole allowed “zoombombing,” in which a hacker could enter and disrupt an ongoing video conference.

Not unlike fellow unicorn Uber, Zoom initially focused on exponential growth, not perfection. After its software was universally adopted, Zoom changed its code to beef up security.

Although security issues could have derailed the firm, Zoom’s growth continued without interruption.

The Zoom lesson

Taking on giants like Cisco, Microsoft, and Google might have seemed like a fool’s errand in Zoom’s early days. But, Yuan let one principle drive the firm’s efforts: make video conferencing as easy as possible for everyone. Minimize user effort. Eliminate complexity.

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