SoftBank's Masayoshi Son has picked Kuching and Peninsular Malaysia for about $50bn of AI and data-centre investment, Malaysia's prime minister says

Malaysia's prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, said in a speech in Melaka on Saturday 24 October that Masayoshi Son told him on a video call earlier that week that he had chosen Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, and Peninsular Malaysia for investments worth about $50bn in AI, new technology and data centres, The Edge Malaysia and Fortune both report. Neither SoftBank nor the prime minister's office had a page we could open, so this rests on the two outlets.

The Edge reports that Anwar's quoted remarks do not name Son; the outlets identify him. SoftBank did not immediately respond to The Edge, and Fortune says it asked SoftBank for comment. Fortune adds that Nikkei Asia reports SoftBank would put up only part of the sum, with financing and partners covering the rest. The speech was in Malay, and the outlets translate it differently, so no words of his are quoted here.

On 8 October SoftBank signed a framework with Grab and Petroleum Sarawak for a platform in Sarawak, Fortune reports.

• Reported Anwar said Son chose sites in Malaysia for about $50bn of technology investment, The Edge Malaysia reports. The Edge Malaysia
• Reported SoftBank would fund only part of the sum, Nikkei Asia reports, according to Fortune. Fortune, via Yahoo Finance