- 11 MOUs signed during the Turkish President’s visit to Malaysia
- Sabah launches its RM8.88 bil O&G project
- Elon Musk intends to buy OpenAI in a USD97.4 bil dea
IN Malaysia
Malaysia enjoying the Turkish delights
During Turkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official visit to Malaysia, both countries exchanged 11 memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to enhance cooperation in key areas such as energy transition, disaster management, defence, trade and media collaboration. Both countries also agreed to double the bilateral trade to surpass the USD10 bil mark. The total trade between Malaysia and Turkiye was recorded at USD5.28 bil in 2024, an 18.7% increase from 2023. Turkiye was Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner, largest export destination and fourth-largest import source among West Asia countries.
Source: https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/744011
https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/743948
As a token to symbolize the special relationship between both Turkiye and Malaysia, Erdogan gave PM Anwar Ibrahim a Togg electric vehicle (EV). PM Anwar said ‘I can use the car as long as I am PM but after that, I have to return it back to the country’. Togg is Turkiye’s first major national EV manufacturer which was established in 2018, akin to our Proton brand.
Source: https://paultan.org/2025/02/10/anwar-receives-togg-ev-as-gift-from-turkish-president/
Key updates from our Borneo friends
- Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg announced that both the state and Singapore are currently discussing the construction method for the 1,000-megawatt (MW) undersea electricity transmission project. The planning for the undersea cable from Sarawak to Singapore will be finalised by 1Q2025. He also expects this to be followed by a conditional agreement between Malaysia and Singapore. This project is part of the overall plan to supply excess energy from Sarawak to the island nation. In return, Sarawak hopes that Singapore will bring in data centre projects into Sarawak. Harapnya tak kene scam sudahlah.
- Sabah Chief Minister Hajiji Noor has launched an RM8.88 bil (ni purposely inflate the cost to achieve the ong ke) Oil and Gas, Energy Hub Project at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP). The timely project launching after Petronas’ closure of the Sabah-Sarawak gas pipeline, is expected to generate employment and skills training opportunities for locals, with 80% of the workforce to be sourced from Sabah.
Source: https://www.thevibes.com/articles/business/104869/sabah-launches-rm8.88-billion-energy-hub
Around the S.E.A.
Trump clearly does not want to make any friends
Equipped with his favourite economic tool – tariff, US President Donald Trump has signed the directive to slap 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, stepping up a long-promised trade war. So, which country are the most affected by these new tariffs? The short answer is US own friends. Below is the breakdown of the top importers of steel into the US –
Contrary to the general belief, China is not the largest steel importer in the US, only accounting for 2.2% of the annual steel imports. Canada and Mexico – which Trump has already threatened with tariffs – are the biggest steel importers to the United States. Clearly, in Trump’s pursuit of promoting his America First policy, both friends and foes will be impacted.
The AI gold rush is getting more exciting
- Tesla CEO Elon Musk is leading the charge of a consortium to acquire the non-profit that controls OpenAI in a proposed USD97.4 bil deal. This deal is an attempt by Musk to block the artificial intelligence startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm. Previously, Musk was one of the co-founders of OpenAI, the non-profit that owns the ChatGPT platform. However, Musk left the company before it took off. OpenAI currently intends to transition into a for-profit from a nonprofit entity, to secure more capital to develop the best AI models. Musk disliked the idea, up to the point that he sued Altman last year, claiming Altman violated contract provisions by putting profit ahead of the public good in the push to advance AI.
Source: https://thesun.my/world-news/musk-led-group-makes-974-billion-bid-for-control-of-openai-FB13656641
Responding to the takeover bid by Musk, Altman rejected the offer and stated that he is open to purchasing X (formerly known as Twitter) for USD9.74 bil. The offer price for X is a tenth of what Musk’s bidding for OpenAI, a cheeky sarcasm towards X’s devaluation since Musk spent USD44 bil to take over Twitter in 2022.
- On a separate matter, OpenAI has decided to move forward with its plans to reduce its dependency on Nvidia chips by developing its own in-house chips. OpenAI is currently finalising the design of its chips and has opted to partner with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) for the fabrication process. On average, it will cost about USD500 mil to develop a new chip design for an ambitious, large-scale program. Other companies such as Meta have signalled that they are willing to fork out USD60 bil on AI infrastructure. Microsoft pun taknak kalah, stated that it will spend USD80 bil in 2025.
- In an obvious statement that the Western could not believe that they are losing out to a Chinese startup, Google DeepMind boss Demis Hassabis said that the notion that China’s DeepSeek only spent under USD6 mil to develop its own AI model is nonsense. Hassabis added that the USD6 mil price tag is allegedly only the cost of the final training round, which is a fraction of the total cost. Hassabis also toned down the narrative that DeepSeek’s AI model is revolutionary, claiming that he did not see any new silver bullet technologies and that DeepSeek is not an outlier on the efficiency curve. Just lick your wound and be better okie Google.
For your EYES only
If you are planning to travel soon, now China has allowed tour groups from ASEAN countries to visit Xishuangbanna in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province without a visa for up to six days.
Xishuangbanna is a remote multi-ethnic border city in China. It’s home to various ethnic groups and has 1.3m population.
As a 4th-tier city, it boasts unique ethnic cultures and beautiful natural scenery, showing its own distinctive charm along the border.pic.twitter.com/L0UlhP0xeZ— ShanghaiPanda (@thinking_panda) December 25, 2024
