The National AI Action Plan 2026–2030 (also styled the AI Technology Action Plan) is the document that formally turns the page on the 2021 roadmap. Prepared by the National AI Office as its flagship deliverable and tabled at the end of 2025, it is Malaysia’s second national AI strategy — and a chance to fix what the first one got wrong.
Its headline ambition is concrete: place Malaysia among the top 20 countries for global AI readiness by 2030, with AI contributing more than RM60 billion to GDP. It focuses on technology, governance, talent, infrastructure and digital trust.
The shape of the plan
The Action Plan is explicitly designed as a cross-cutting implementation layer rather than a standalone silo. It builds on the AI-Rmap and the AIGE guidelines, coordinates with the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, the PDPA and sectoral laws, and proposes a risk-based regulatory framework for developers, providers and deployers of AI.
Its priorities, as described by NAIO and ministers, cluster around five themes:
- Technology & R&D — building local AI capability rather than only importing it.
- Talent — cultivating and retaining the AI workforce.
- Infrastructure — harnessing the data-centre and compute build-out for national benefit.
- Governance & digital trust — moving from voluntary guidelines toward enforceable rules.
- Adoption — accelerating real AI use across government and industry.
What it learns from the last plan
Read against this site’s review of the 2021 roadmap, the most striking feature of the new plan is its attention to the very weaknesses that sank its predecessor:
- Accountability. Where the AI-Rmap published no progress data, the new plan promises an annual National AI Report and proposes third-party evaluations (a mid-term in 2028, end-term in 2030).
- An owner. Where the AI-CIU never formed, this plan has a clear custodian from day one in NAIO.
- The right AI. Where the 2021 plan predated generative AI, this one is written for it — foundation models, compute and digital trust are central.
Whether those design improvements translate into delivery is, of course, the open question — and exactly the thing this site will keep tracking. A plan that promises an annual report has, at least, given citizens a way to hold it to account that the last one never did.
Based on public descriptions of the National AI Action Plan / AI Technology Action Plan 2026–2030 from NAIO and ministers: the top-20 readiness goal, the RM60b+ GDP figure, the five thematic priorities, the risk-based framework, and the proposed annual report and third-party evaluations. The Plan was tabled at the end of 2025.
As a forward-looking strategy, details may evolve. Full sources: airmap.my/sources. Independent of NAIO and the Ministry of Digital.