US-based Tenstorrent To Establish Offices In Malaysia As Part Of Global Expansion

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 (Bernama) -- Tenstorrent Inc., a US-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup, is planning to expand its presence in Malaysia by establishing offices in the country.

This initiative marks a significant step in the company’s regional growth strategy for AI hardware.

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Its chief executive officer, Jim Keller, said the company has been actively exploring opportunities in Malaysia, including data centre development and design services, noting that the country’s existing infrastructure and talent base make it an ideal location.

“We were here a couple of months ago talking about building a data centre, and we have also been exploring doing design services here. There is a lot of interest for us to start a real proper 10-storey office in Malaysia, which we are going to do,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Semiconductor Summit here today. 

Keller said the new office would likely be located in Kuala Lumpur, while Penang could serve as a site for contract manufacturing operations.

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“We are looking at Kuala Lumpur and Penang. It could be we have two contract manufacturers that already are operating in Penang, but the design centre, I think, would be in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Keller said that the company hopes to incorporate within the next year, with plans to expand hiring gradually.

“We will be incorporating relatively soon. When it comes to hiring, I believe in an incremental approach. We plan to open an office and initially hire 10 people, then increase to 20, followed by 50, and ultimately 100. This gradual process allows us to build for long-term success,” he said.

While Keller did not disclose investment figures, he confirmed that the amount involved would be in the “millions”.

Keller added that the company’s focus on affordable and efficient AI systems aligns with Malaysia’s industrial goals.

“We are building lower-power chips and using more of those chips to build an efficient solution. I am focused on packaging and cabling technology. That is fundamentally low cost, and from there, we are going to iterate to make it better over time,” he said.

Keller noted that Malaysia is well-positioned to develop scalable AI applications across various sectors, including data centres, robotics, and the automotive industry.

“AI is a general-purpose technology. It can be used in data centres, edge computing, robotics, and automotive. We are building both general-purpose computing and AI that is pretty scalable, which means you can put it in a small application and a big one at pretty low cost,” he said.

Keller also lauded the Malaysian government’s proactive stance in promoting AI adoption across industries and education.

“They are making the right choice by embracing AI and integrating it into their curriculum. Schools need to teach students how to use AI for design purposes. However, one point I emphasised today is the importance of building your own data centres and developing your own training models.

“Otherwise, the AI tools you use will be based on someone else’s work,” he said.

Tenstorrent currently has global offices in the United States, Singapore, Japan, and Poland, and is expanding rapidly across 15 countries.

“By the end of this year, 20 different offices, I think, in 15 countries. Ten of them are over 100 people. We are going to grow organically and make progress,” said Keller.

Malaysia could become the company’s largest office in Southeast Asia, given its proximity to Bangalore and the Middle East.

“Malaysia would potentially be our largest office in the region. It is close to our design centre in Bangalore and to the Middle East in terms of flights and time zones. Malaysia could be a really great place to grow,” he added.

Tenstorrent’s Malaysia office will not only focus on engineering but also on cross-functional professional services.

“We are developing a larger, cross-functional plan that integrates engineering and other professional services based in Malaysia,” Keller said.

The two-day summit was organised by Selangor Information Technology & Digital Economy Corporation (SIDEC) as part of the 10th Selangor Smart City and Digital Economy Convention. 

-- BERNAMA