SoftBank, Petros and Grab set 5GW Malaysia data center target

By Elena Vasquez

US$1 billion (RM4.07 billion) in initial spending will back a new Malaysian data center venture under a Joint Development Agreement signed by SoftBank, Petroleum Sarawak Berhad and Grab. The partners will develop facilities in Sarawak, a Malaysian state on Borneo, with a long-term target of 5GW of compute in the region.

The trio announced a framework agreement last month before signing the JDA. SoftBank brings Japanese technology-group backing, Petros is Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company, and Grab is the Singapore ride-hailing company. The trio will seek additional investors and hyperscaler customers.

“We are proud to work with Sarawak to advance AI for the benefit of the region and its people. Together with Grab and Petros, we aim to create lasting opportunities in Sarawak and support the development of technology-driven economic activity across Malaysia and the wider region,”

— Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank

What does the 5GW target mean for the market?

The 5GW figure sets the scale of the partners’ long-term target for Sarawak. It sits beyond the disclosed first-stage spending and therefore cannot be read as installed capacity at the agreement’s signing. No build schedule or customer allocation accompanies the figure in the announcement.

By seeking additional investors and hyperscaler customers, the companies have left both the funding mix and anchor tenant base open. For data center operators and suppliers, that makes the commercial question clear: how much of the 5GW becomes funded and contracted.

How is the initial US$1 billion funded?

• SoftBank: US$800 million
• Grab: US$100 million
• Petroleum Sarawak Berhad: US$100 million

The three allocations add up to the full US$1 billion initial spend. SoftBank holds the largest funding position in the agreement.

What does Petros add beyond data centers?

Petros plans to expand critical gas infrastructure in Sarawak as part of a broader industrial expansion push. Its participation therefore links the venture to regional infrastructure planning rather than limiting it to standalone data center financing.

Petros brings state ownership into the funding group. The companies also said they will develop the centers in close collaboration with Malaysia’s Federal Government and the Sarawak Government, placing both authorities inside the development process.

How does the venture fit Malaysia’s data center push?

Malaysia has increasingly pitched itself as an APAC data center hub. Google announced this month that it plans to invest US$15 billion in the country, joining proposed investments from OpenAI, Tencent and PDG.

Google’s plan is 15 times the trio’s US$1 billion initial envelope. The comparison places the Sarawak venture within a wider Malaysian push for data center capital. The wider investment activity raises the stakes for the Sarawak partners’ search for follow-on capital and hyperscaler customers.

What is the near-term market signal?

The agreement’s funding structure separates the announced initial commitment from future scale. The three partners have announced the initial US$1 billion, but they describe 5GW as a long-term target and will seek additional investors and hyperscaler customers. That distinction should govern how analysts and suppliers read the announcement.

The disclosed figures set two benchmarks: US$1 billion for the initial stage and 5GW for the long-term development goal. The first has three named backers; the second remains tied to the partners’ planned search for additional investors and hyperscaler customers.

For companies in the supply chain, the commercial signal is a defined initial fund and a named industrial partner. Until follow-on investors and customers are named, 5GW remains a development target rather than a forecast of deployed capacity.